Delhi Capitals (DC) bounced back from their defeat against Sunrisers Hyderabad to secure a win against Gujarat Titans in Match 44 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
The away team defended a modest total of 130, thanks to an excellent bowling performance led by Ishant Sharma (2/23), who held his nerve to defend 12 runs off the last over in another thriller. GT pacer Mohd. Shami produced his best IPL figures (4-0-11-4) to restrict DC to 130.
David Warner chose to bat after winning the toss. Shami ripped through the DC top and middle order to take four wickets inside the Powerplay.
The opening over of the match saw a breakthrough for GT, as their bowler struck on the very first ball to dismiss Phil Salt, who hit the ball with power but found David Miller waiting at short extra cover to take the catch.
The early momentum for DC was derailed in the following over when a mix-up between David Warner and Priyam Garg resulted in the former being run out and sent back to the pavilion, courtesy of Hardik Pandya’s delivery.
Shami was in sensational form for GT, taking three wickets in regular intervals. First, he sent Rossouw packing with a delightful outswinger that was caught behind.
He then produced two more lethal outswingers to dismiss Manish Pandey and Priyam Garg, both caught behind. Pandey’s wicket was particularly impressive as Wriddhiman Saha pulled off a spectacular diving catch to his right.
DC’s woes continued as they struggled to 28/5 at the end of the Powerplay, with Aman Khan’s rare boundary off Josh Little being their only highlight. Shami bowled four overs in a row and finished with figures of 4-0-11-4, putting GT in the driving seat.
However, Aman Khan and Axar Patel steadied the ship for DC with a cautious yet aggressive partnership that brought up the 50-run mark off 54 balls.
Despite some late heroics from Ripal Patel, who hit a four and a six off Mohit Sharma, DC could only manage 130/8 as Mohit bowled a superb last over to restrict them to just three runs and take a wicket.
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GT’s chase began with a major setback as Khaleel’s impeccable swing bowling got the better of Wriddhiman Saha, who was caught behind.
Despite numerous attempts by Saha to defend against Khaleel’s deliveries, the bowler managed to find the edge of his bat and the ball ended up in the hands of the wicketkeeper.
Anrich Nortje then had Gill (6 off 7) caught at covers off an uppish drive in the next over. GT’s innings got off to a rough start as Ishant Sharma’s knuckleball dismissed Vijay Shankar, leaving them at 26/3.
They struggled to recover and were at 31/3 by the end of the powerplay. David Miller was then cleaned up by Kuldeep Yadav with a missed sweep, scoring zero off three balls.
Pandya and Abhinav Manohar tried to rebuild, but DC’s tight bowling pushed the required run rate above 10 per over with five overs left. However, the GT skipper managed to bring up his half-century off 44 balls.
As the game entered the final overs, Khaleel returned to the attack and dismissed Manohar with his first ball, caught at long-on. He then gave away only four runs in an excellent over, leaving GT with 33 to get off 12 balls.
Nortje’s penultimate over started well with three runs off the first three balls, but Rahul Tewatia smashed three consecutive sixes to bring the equation down to 12 off the last over.
Ishant Sharma was handed the ball for the final over and he responded with a brilliant start, conceding only three runs off the first three balls and then taking the wicket of Tewatia caught at extra cover.
With seven runs required off the last ball, Ishant bowled a full toss that Rashid managed to slice over backward point for just two runs, sparking wild celebrations among the DC players.
