It was a day to rejoice for the left-hand batters at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday where the Delhi Capitals beat the Gujarat Titans by four runs in a nail-biting finish to maintain its playoff qualification hopes.
After the heroics of Rishabh Pant (88, 43b, 5×4, 8×6) and Axar Patel (66,43b, 5×4, 4×6) helped the host put up 224, B. Sai Sudharsan (65, 39b, 7×4, 2×6) and David Miller (55, 23b, 6×4, 3×6) kept DC on its toes but the visitor fell agonisingly short of scaling the total.
The Titans’ chase faced an early setback when captain Shubman Gill lofted one to Axar at mid-on, but Wriddhiman Saha and Sai Sudharsan kept the pressure on, scoring at a fair clip in the PowerPlay.
Sai Sudharsan used the favourable match-up against Axar to keep the runs flowing after the introduction of spin. Saha perished for a 25-ball 39, trying to hit Kuldeep Yadav over cover and Azmatullah Omarzai departed soon after, falling to Axar.
Pacer Rasikh Salam then dented GT’s hopes further by removing Sudharsan and the dangerous Shahrukh Khan – the latter falling to a brilliant catch by Pant. However, Miller’s blitzkrieg and cameos from Rashid Khan and R. Sai Kishore ensured the butterflies in the crowd’s gut remained till the last ball.
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Earlier in the day, DC opener Jake Fraser-McGurk continued his modus operandi of blistering starts, taking the attack to Sandeep Warrier.
The Tamil Nadu bowler stuck to his plans – the astute positioning of the square leg fielder bringing out the Australian’s downfall. Warrier ensured GT would finish the PowerPlay on top, removing Prithvi Shaw and Shai Hope.
With the Afghan spin twins coming into play, Pant and Axar ensured they weren’t pinned down, counter-attacking the duo en route to the 113-run stand. Axar eventually fell to Noor Ahmad, handing a simple catch to Sai Kishore while trying to loft one over long-on.
At the other end, Pant’s onslaught against Mohit Sharma continued through to the final over, hammering 31 runs to hand him the unwanted record of bowling the most expensive spell in the IPL whilst taking DC to a total that proved just enough.
