Delhi Capitals (DC) have dismissed Gujarat Titans (GT) from their presence with a comprehensive six-wicket win at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Wednesday, April 17. After bowling out the Titans for a paltry 89, the DC batters came out all guns blazing. They were ready to sacrifice their wickets since the visitors had the opportunity to finish the game early. They did that and still 67 balls were left in the game and the Capitals had already earned two points, as they jumped to sixth place on the table with a significant increase in the net run rate.
This is their biggest win in terms of balls remaining while chasing as everything went right for the Capitals, even those aspects which they were lacking in, in the last few games - getting powerplay wickets and exerting pressure on the opposition in the middle overs. Ishant Sharma began in style with the big wicket of GT skipper Shubman Gill and Mukesh Kumar followed it in the next over by getting rid of Wriddhiman Saha. Once the openers were sent back, Delhi knew that they have a chance to pounce upon the home team.
A run-out shortly after didn't help their cause and Ishant Sharma with the wicket of David Miller in the final over of the powerplay shut down any hopes of a GT comeback. Rishabh Pant pulled an ace of the spade in the form of Tristan Stubbs out of nowhere as the part-timer sent back the last two recognised batters in the GT line-up, Abhinav Manohar and Shahrukh Khan in the same over.
Stubbs would have to thank Rishabh Pant for those two wickets, not just for letting him bowl but also because of his exceptional glove work behind the stumps. Once those two were gone, it was a formality. Rashid Khan did get a few runs with his pyrotechnics but he couldn't have done all alone as the Titans were skittled out for just 89 runs, their lowest-ever score in IPL.
Delhi batters came with one objective to finish the match as quickly as they could and they did, even though they lost a few wickets in the process. Jake Fraser-McGurk, as he hilariously admitted in the end, didn't need any invitation to go after the bowling, and smashed a rapid 20. Prithvi Shaw hit a couple of boundaries. Abishek Porel hit a few more and Shai Hope went after Sandeep Warrier to smash a couple of sixes. All of them lost their wickets in the process but Delhi were up and running at 65 in just five overs.
Rishabh Pant and Sumit Kumar provided the finishing touches as the Capitals romped home with six wickets in the bag. Skipper Pant won the Player of the Match award for his effort with the gloves and Delhi are now above the Titans in the points table and Mumbai Indians have moved down to No 9. Titans have suffered massively in their NRR which now stands at -1.3.
