Gujarat Titans beats Dehli Capital by six wickets

APRIL 5: Gujarat Titans made it two wins in two as they beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets in Match 7 of the TATA IPL at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

A collective bowling performance led by Rashid Khan (3/31) and Alzarri Joseph (2/29) helped GT restrict DC to 162/8. B Sai Sudharsan then played a calm and composed knock of 62(48) under pressure to stitch crucial fifty-run partnerships with Vijay Shankar (29 off 23) and David Miller (31 off 16) to chase down the target with 11 balls to spare.  

Chasing 163, GT opener Wriddhiman Saha got into the groove early as he cracked a couple of fours and then pulled one over deep square leg for a six to make it 14 runs off the first over from Khaleel Ahmed. Shubman Gill too started off well as he crunched a couple of well-timed fours through the off side off Mukesh Kumar in the next over.

DC captain David Warner brough on Anrich Nortje in the third over and he struck straightaway with a peach, cleaning up Saha with one that jagged back in sharply. Nortje disturbed the furniture again off the first ball of his next over as he knocked down Gill's off stump with a similar delivery that nipped back in sharply. He however ended up conceding a six to off a Free Hit to B Sai Sudharsan and a four to Hardik Pandya. Warner brought back Khaleel and another one of his bowling changes worked as he got the big wicket of Hardik Pandya, caught behind for 5. Gujarat Titans reached 54/3 at the end of the Powerplay.

The Titans then introduced their Impact Player - Vijay Shankar - in place of Josh Little.

Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar then got together, steadied the ship and then upped the scoring to 53 off 44 balls. Sudharsan played some attractive shots as the duo combined caution with aggression well and played a calculated game.

Marsh then struck at a crucial juncture to trap Shankar (29 off 23) LBW via a successful review to break the partnership. There was a bit of drama then as Miller was given out LBW off Kuldeep but he reviewed it and the decision was overturned as replays showed it was missing leg.

Things slowed down and with 43 needed off 27, Miller released the pressure by smacking a short one into the stands, off Mukesh Kumar, then lofted another one over wide long on for another six and then drove one wide of long off for a four to make it 20 runs off the over and bring the equation down to 26 needed off 24. It was a momentum changing over which put GT in the driver's seat. Sudharshan then got to his half-century off 44 balls with an upper cut over the keeper for a one bounce four.

GT were cruising as Sudharsan pulled one over fine leg off Nortje and Miller crashed one through extra cover off Khaleel as the pair brought up the 50-run stand and finished off the match  

Earlier, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl. They made two changes to the side as B Sai Sudharsan and David Miller replaced Vijay Shankar and David Miller. They named R Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar and KS Bharat as their substitutes.

Delhi Capitals made three changes to the side as Anrich Nortje, Aman Khan and debutant Abhishek Porel came in place of Rovman Powell, Khaleel Ahmed and Chetan Sakariya. They named Lalit Yadav, Rovman Powell, Chetan Sakariya, Khaleel Ahmed and Manish Pandey as their substitutes.

GT pacer Mohd. Shami started off with an eventful first over as he beat David Warner twice with one of those deliveries flicking the stumps and conceded 11 runs. Warner was lucky in the over as an outswinger beat his outside edge and brushed the stumps but the bails stayed on. Warner then got off the mark as he flicked one just past the diving wicketkeeper for a four. Shami then sprayed one down the leg side which flew wide of the wicket-keeper for five WIDES. The last one was a dot as 11 runs came from the opening over.

Warner then smacked a four off Josh Little to take 9 runs off the second over. Shaw straightaway looked to attack Shami in his next over as he slashed at one but got an outside edge to third man for a streaky four. But Shami bounced back to remove Shaw three balls later as he had him caught at mid on.

Shami again struck in his next over as he had Mitchell Marsh drag one onto the stumps after being hit for a four off the previous ball. Warner though made sure that the pressure didn't build as he slashed one over point for a four off Shami and pulled one over mid-wicket off Hardik Pandya for his fifth four to take DC to 52/2 at the end of the Powerplay.

The Australian batter then took on Alzarri Joseph as he hammered one over mid off for a four and then cut another one wide of third man for the second four of the over. Hardik then bowled a tight over and gave away just four. And it seemed to benefit Joseph as he first had Warner (37 off 32) chop one onto his stumps in the next over. And then bowled a snorter off the next ball to Rilee Rossouw who fended it in the air and Rahul Tewatia pulled off a brilliant catch at backward point. It was a fiery over from Joseph that pegged DC back as they reached 78/4 at the half-way mark.

Joseph was ramping up good pace. Abhishek Porel slashed a short one from the West Indies pacer to third man where Yash Dayal took a brilliant catch but ended up crossing the rope. Joseph bowled another bouncer next ball, Porel looked to pull but missed and it hit him flush on the helmet. Amid the fiery spell, Sarfaraz got a lifeline as he miscued one off Yash Dayal and Josh Little dropped a tough high catch. Porel then got one off the middle as he smashed a massive six over deep mid-wicket off Dayal to bring up DC's 100 in the 12th over.

Hardik Pandya introduced Rashid Khan into the attack in the 13th over and he didn't take time to get going as he cleaned up Porel off the second delivery of his spell to break the 34-run (off 23 balls) stand.

Axar Patel arrived and relieved some pressure as he hit a couple of fours and then a powerful six off Rashid. Little though bowled a tight 16th over, giving away just five and mounting some pressure. Sarfaraz Khan who wasn't at his fluent best, batting on 26 off 32, then tried to up the ante as he smashed a slog sweep for a four off Rashid. He then went for another one off the next ball but ended up getting a top edge and Josh Little in the deep did well to pouch a tricky catch.

Axar Patel hit a six over long off, off Little and then Aman Khan slog-swept one for a maximum off Rashid but the Afghanistan spinner hit back to remove Aman next ball to scalp his third wicket.

Axar managed one more six, off Shami in the last over before holing out to deep point for 36(22). Anrich Nortje hit a four off the last ball of the innings to take DC to 162/8. It was sort of a start-stop innings for the home team as they never got consistent momentum going. The batters got starts but couldn't convert them into big ones.

Joseph (2/29) and Rashid (3/31) were the pick of the bowlers for GT. Little bowled an economical spell of 4-0-27-0. Axar Patel played a crucial cameo of 36 off 22 (Two sixes and three fours) at the end to push DC past 150.

DC introduced Khaleel Ahmed as their Impact Player in place of Sarfaraz Khan at the start of their bowling innings.