Once DC made the initial breakthroughs, Sudharsan and Shankar stabilised the ship, but the
SA added the finishing touches.
The Hardik Pandya-led Gujarat Titans team was almost flawless in run chases during the
team’s championship-winning 2022 campaign. They have had a successful start to the 2023
IPL season, winning both games after opting to chase in both of them. On Tuesday at the
Ferozeshah Kotla stadium, they beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets and 11 balls, achieving
their target of 163. Sai Sudharsan made an unbeatable 62, and David Miller delivered the
customary finishing touch.
Anrich Nortje’s debut made the Delhi players happy as the Titans chase got underway with
Wriddhiman Saha scoring 14 runs in the opening over and Shubman Gill scoring two
boundaries through the off-side in the second. In same fashion, he bowled Saha and Gill in
quick succession, the ball striking the batter’s pad before clattering the stumps.
After Pandya was caught behind by Khaleel Ahmed in the sixth over, the Titans had lost their
third wicket. Pandya had been Sarfaraz Khan’s Impact Player replacement during the Delhi
innings. Khaleel’s length ball, which he threw from close to the wicket, kept its line just long
enough to cause Pandya’s outside edge. After six overs, the Titans were 54/3.
However, because the run rate was no longer a concern for the visitors at that point,
Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar (who had replaced Joshua Little after the first innings) only
needed to form a partnership. For the fourth wicket, the Tamil Nadu team scored 53 runs in
44 balls.
Titans needed 56 off 40 balls when Shankar was out in the 14th over for 29 (23b, 3×4). Early
in his innings, Sudharsan shown audacity by moving to the off-side to scoop a full delivery by
Nortje for a six over fine-leg. But as the innings went on, he slowed down and found it more
difficult to reach the boundary.
That didn’t matter, though, because Mukesh Kumar won by 20 runs and Miller was at his
marauding best, relieving the pressure with two sixes and a four. The equation was reduced
to 26 off the final four overs. The reigning champions coasted from that point on.
Delhi has to improve their batting after being held to a total of 162/8. Despite the strong
performances by David Warner (37, 32b, 7×4) and Axar Patel (36, 22b, 2×4, 3×6), the hosts
still need players like Prithvi Shaw and Sarfaraz to come up. The three leading wicket-takers
for Titans were Mohammad Shami (3/41), Alzarri Joseph (2/29) and Rashid Khan (3/31).
In the Delhi innings, Shaw was the first player to be out, having been caught trying to pull
Shami at mid-on. On his subsequent over, the Indian pacer eliminated Mitchell Marsh. He
persuaded one to travel slightly away from the Australian, whose loose cut caused an inside
edge to land on the stumps, with considerable assistance from the surface. While Shami’s
line was a little inconsistent in his first spell—he let up 29 runs off of his first three overs—he
was in control once he forced the Delhi batsmen to play.
As Delhi reached 52/2 at the conclusion of the powerplay, Warner contributed the majority of
the early scoring. The left-handed starter was particularly fast to take advantage of any width
outside of the stump.In the seventh over of the innings, the pacer’s first, he struck Joseph for
two boundaries. But, the West Indian got back at him in the following over when Warner
sliced a length ball onto his stumps. Warner had adequate room to play the shot, but an
angled bat was the cause of his demise.
With a brute of a bouncer that South African left-hander Rilee Rossouw awkwardly fended,
Joseph quickly made it two in two. At backward point, a diving Rahul Tewatia almost caught
the ball.Delhi were in trouble when they were 70/4 after nine overs. Surprisingly, Sarfaraz
and debutant Abishek Porel added 34 runs to the fifth wicket partnership with a cameo of 20
runs off 11 balls. The Bengali left-handed hitter Porel, who was called in for his
wicketkeeping skills, gave Joseph an uppercut near the area of the third man, sending the
Delhi fans into a frenzy. Yash Dayal, who was stationed at the boundary, was able to grab
the ball but was unable to stay inside the confines of the boundary. Porel then pulled the
left-arm pacer for a six over deep midwicket, adding insult to Dayal’s injury.
Rashid’s appearance in the 13th over was what finally put an end to Porel’s impressive
batting debut. A terrible mistake against a bowler of Rashid’s calibre, the kid was bowled
after playing beyond the line to a full delivery from the renowned leg-spinner.
Axar’s late flourish insured a total that appeared out of reach when they lost four wickets
within the opening ten overs, while Sarfaraz looked out of touch during a 34-ball 30.
