Ishant Sharma showcased nerves of steel to pull off a final-over heist over reigning champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad tonight.
Skipper David Warner called it right at the toss and elected to bat first.
Rocky start
Mohammad Shami’s fiery opening spell and an unfortunate mix-up pegged us back at the start, as we lost our first five wickets with just 23 on the board.
Aman and Axar lead our fightback
Aman Khan and Axar Patel took up the responsibility of rebuilding our innings and stitching together a 50-run partnership.
The partnership didn’t last long, as Bapu was soon dismissed by Mohit Sharma.
A memorable first for Aman, under pressure
Even after Axar’s departure, Aman continued to power forward, and with Ripal Patel as his partner, he reached his maiden half-century in the IPL.
Ripal and Aman upped the ante, bringing up their 50-run partnership in 26 balls.
We eventually ended up with a respectable total of 130/8.
Our quicks fire on all cylinders
Khaleel Ahmed started off with a wicket maiden, providing us with the perfect start.
Anrich Nortje wasn’t going to be left far behind as he added a 50th IPL scalp to his kitty, dismissing the in-form Shubman Gill.
Ishant Sharma’s knuckleball got rid of Vijay Shankar to reduce the champions to 26 for 3.
Kuldeep Yadav ensured David Miller’s stay on the crease was short-lived.
Hardik and Manohar put up a stand
Hardik Pandya and Abhinav Manohar joined forces to add 62 runs for the sixth wicket. Khaleel Ahmed was brought back into the attack, and Manohar was dismissed to bring us back into the game.
Rahul Tewatia’s big hits in the penultimate over left us with 11 runs to defend in the last over.
Ishant Sharma brought all his experience into play as he accounted for Rahul Tewatia and gave away just 6 runs to cap off a 5-run victory for us.
Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals: 130/8 (20), Aman Khan 51 (44), Axar Patel 27 (30), Mohammad Shami 4/11, Mohit Sharma 2/33 beat Gujarat Titans: 125/6 (20), Hardik Pandya 59 (53), Abhinav Manohar 26 (33), Ishant Sharma 2/23, Khaleel Ahmed 2/24.
Player of the Match: Mohammed Shami
