Last update: May 03, 2023, 07:10 IST
Gujarat Titans lost despite putting on a superb show with the ball. (Photo credit: Sportzpics)
The Delhi Capitals survived a stunning batting slump, Hardik Pandya’s solid fifty and a late blitz from Rahul Tewatia to beat the Gujarat Titans on Tuesday
With the scoreboard showing 23/5 in five overs, the match was progressing as expected, as the positions of the two contending teams on the IPL 2023 points table would suggest.
The Gujarat Titans, the best, had left the Delhi Capitals, the team placed at the bottom of the standings, out of breath in Ahmedabad.
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Mohammed Shami was the chief troubleshooter as he threw four trotting overs to finish with excellent bowling figures of 4/11.
DC somehow recovered and managed to post a decent 130/8. GT was expected to chase the target with ease, but DC made it a game and ultimately won by five points.
GT lost despite captain Hardik Pandya hitting a solid fifty and Rahul Tewatia hitting three straight sixes in the 19th to ignite hopes for another thrilling finish.
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Naturally, Pandya was disappointed with the result but praised Shami.
“I feel sorry for him (Shami),” Pandya said while answering a question about Shami’s fiery spell with the new ball. “If you play like that then you get the team on 129 (130) I think the batters are disappointed. I don’t think the ball did much. I think it’s just the whole of skills from Mohammed Shami that he has and he made the ball talk.
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Pandya added: “Otherwise I think for fast bowlers the wicket hasn’t had much help. But the way he (Shami) trotted four and got us into the game, all credit. Like I said, the batters and especially myself didn’t finish and we disappointed him. There are still a lot of games left. We’re going to take all the lessons from this game and rectify them a bit better and move on.”
Like DC, GT also lost their first low-cost order, but Pandya and Abhinav Manohar came together to undo some damage with a 62-point backing for the fifth wicket.
“We were hoping to get some big overtakes in the middle, but we couldn’t find the rhythm. It was also new for Abhinav and it is like saying I couldn’t finish the game. All notes to bowlers and full ownership, I couldn’t finish it,” Pandya said while taking the blame for the loss.
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