A sensational KL Rahul knock set us well on track at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Sunday, but Gujarat Titans’ openers shone with great knocks to deny us a win in our final home game.
With two matches remaining, we find ourselves in a must-win situation, but our fate still remains within our hands to make it to the Playoffs.
Earlier in the day, Gujarat Titans won the toss and chose to field. Despite losing Faf du Plessis early, Abishek Porel and KL Rahul saw through a tight phase to establish a big partnership. The runs didn’t come in easy in the first five overs, but KL broke the shackles and Abishek tagged along soon.
KL Rahul, with a big six down the ground, completed 8,000 runs in T20 cricket and became the fastest Indian to do so. He soon completed his half-century as well, continuing what has been a terrific season for him.
The duo added 90 runs together, where the young southpaw scored 30 off 19 balls. After Abishek’s dismissal, Rahul upped the ante alongside Axar Patel and accumulated quick runs.
In the 19th over, with a six and a four, Rahul brought up his fifth TATA IPL century. It was a meticulously calculated knock from our star man, who ensured we got close to the 200-mark despite not getting a good start in the powerplay.
Tristan Stubbs continued his good run in the death overs, scoring 21 off 10 runs. We eventually finished with 199/3 in 20 overs, with KL Rahul remaining unbeaten on 112 off 65 balls.
After the break, Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan put on a big performance with the bat. Despite the best efforts from our bowling attack, the in-form batting duo of the Titans took the game away with a string of big hits.
As it turned out, they chased the 200-run target without losing a wicket. Sai Sudharsan completed a century and remained unbeaten on 108 off 61 balls, while Shubman Gill chipped in with 93 runs off 53 balls.
The race to playoffs will continue, as we take the field soon on Wednesday against Mumbai Indians.
Brief Scores
Delhi Capitals 199/3 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 112*, Abishek Sharma 30) lost to Gujarat Titans (Sai Sudharsan 108*, Shubman Gill 93*)
Player of the match: Sai Sudharsan
