Powered by skipper Rishabh Pant's sensational 88 off just 43 balls, Delhi Capitals (DC) clinched a thrilling 4-run victory over Gujarat Titans in the 40th match of IPL 2024 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday.
In pursuit of a challenging target of 225 runs, the Titans displayed resilience, but fell short, settling for 221/8 at the end of 20 overs.
Sai Sudharsan's Sublime Knock
The Titans started steadily but suffered a setback when their captain, Shubman Gill, fell to Anrich Nortje's delivery in the second over, caught by Axar Patel after scoring 6 runs from 5 balls.
Then, Sai Sudharsan and Wriddhiman Saha then formed a crucial partnership of 82 runs off 49 balls, injecting momentum into the visitor's chase. However, Kuldeep Yadav broke the stand by dismissing Saha, caught by Axar Patel, after contributing 39 runs off 25 balls. Meanwhile, Sudharsan continued his impressive form, reaching his fifty off 29 balls in the 10th over.
On the very next delivery, Azmatullah Omarzai was dismissed by Axar Patel after scoring just one run off two balls. The Titans lost their fourth wicket when Sudharsan, who had played a resilient innings, was caught by Axar off Rasikh Salam's delivery in the 13th over, departing after scoring 65 runs off 39 balls.
The David Miller Show
Shahrukh Khan stepped in but faced another disappointing performance, becoming Salam's second victim of the evening when he lost his wicket in the 15th over, managing just 8 runs from 5 balls.
Rahul Tewatia also couldn't provide the much-needed rescue to his side, falling prey to Kuldeep Yadav on the final delivery of the 16th over. Tewatia managed just 4 runs from 5 balls.
David Miller, (55 runs off 23 balls), took charge, hammering three sixes and a boundary in the 17th over against Anrich Nortje. The Protea reached his half-century off a mere 21 balls by running for two runs on the final delivery of the over. Miller wasted no time in the 18th over, striking another boundary off the first ball he faced, only to lose his wicket attempting another big shot on the next. He was caught by Salam on a delivery from Mukesh Kumar.
Last Over Thriller
In the nail-biting penultimate over, Sai Kishore unleashed two consecutive sixes, while Rashid Khan contributed with a timely boundary. However, the excitement took a downturn on the final delivery of the over when Rashik Salam upended Sai's stumps, limiting him to a brisk 13 runs off 6 balls.
Entering the last over with 19 runs required, Rashid Khan kicked off the high-pressure over in style, smashing two successive boundaries off Mukesh Sharma. However, the next two deliveries resulted in dots, escalating the tension. With 11 runs needed off the final two balls, Rashid Khan sent the ball soaring into the stands for a crucial maximum. Yet, with just 5 runs required off the last delivery, Khan couldn't manage to score the necessary runs, with DC emerging victorious by a slim margin of 4 runs.
Pant-Axar Run-Stand
In the first innings, captain Rishabh Pant slammed an unbeaten 88 off 43 balls, while Axar Patel hit a 43-ball 66 to lift Delhi Capitals to a mammoth 224/4.
GT had the upper hand after electing to bowl first, thanks to Sandeep Warrier’s triple strikes in power-play and leaving DC in trouble. But Pant and Axar took their time, before launching a stunning onslaught against spinners to form a decisive 113-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Axar made his promotion to number three count by hitting five fours and four sixes in his eye-catching knock at a strike-rate of 153.49. Pant was at his magnificent best in hitting eight sixes and five fours at a strike-rate of 204.6. DC took 97 runs in their final five overs.
Warrier's Triple Strike
Pushed into batting first, Prithvi Shaw and Jake Fraser-McGurk hit six delightful boundaries as DC reached 34/0 in three overs. But Warrier bounced back in the fourth over after conceding 12 runs in his opening over.
The fast-bowler first had Fraser-McGurk flicking off the bottom edge to deep square leg, followed by getting Shaw to mistime a pull, with Noor Ahmad running in from deep square leg to take a diving catch. Warrier got his third power-play wicket when Shai Hope sliced away from his body and was caught at backward point.
DC ended the six-over phase with 44/3. Meanwhile, Axar reached his fifty in 37 balls with a pulled four off Rashid.
Pant On Fire
Pant was delightful in the 16th over against Mohit - whipping off his pads and thumping a slower ball over long-off for a brace of sixes, before bringing up the century of the fourth-wicket stand. Axar then hammered Noor for back-to-back sixes in the 17th over before holing out to long-on to fall for a 43-ball 66.
Pant got his fifty in 34 balls by lofting a full-toss from Mohit over long-on for six, and was met with a grand applause from the crowd. GT brought in R Sai Kishore’s left-arm spin in the 19th over to counter right-handed Tristan Stubbs.
But the batter creamed the drives twice in the gap between extra-cover and long-off, followed by clubbing the spinner for two mammoth sixes over long-on in the 22-run over. In the last over, Pant managed to clear long-on for six and sliced a four despite losing balance against Mohit. He would pull, loft and swivel Mohit for maximums on the last three balls of the innings to take 31 runs off the final over.
With inputs from IANS.
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