The Narendra Modi Stadium witnessed a low-scoring thriller on Tuesday, but unfortunately, home fans did not get the result they would’ve liked. Delhi Capitals emerged victorious by the barest of margins, but on a positive note, we remain on top of the points table.  

Shami’s blinder of a spell

Delhi Capitals won the toss earlier and chose to bat. 

Mohammad Shami struck with the first ball of the match with Phil Salt finding David Miller at covers straight away. The agony piled up for Capitals as a mix-up between David Warner and Priyam Garg led to the run-out of the former. 

After that, Shami took over the show instantly. Shami’s terrific form with the new ball continued, and how! In his second over, his pace and bounce got the better of Rilee Rossow and in his third, he upped the ante further. He dismissed Priyam Garg and Manish Pandey to register his first four-fer in TATA IPL, restricting our visitors to 23 for five in five overs. 

It was not the easiest of surfaces to score runs, but Delhi got a partnership going through Aman Khan and Axar Patel. Noor Ahmad was impressive with his four overs, conceding only 20 runs. Although the runs did not come in easily, the duo started taking the Capitals to a respectable total. 

Mohit Sharma had a moment to cherish in the final over, with his two wickets taking him into the 100-wicket club of TATA IPL, which was a cherry on top for a terrific bowling effort overall. We restricted our opponents to 130 for eight batting first. 

So close, yet so far

Our top order has consistently given us good starts throughout this tournament but unfortunately, it wasn’t their day. Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill walked back early on and Capitals continued to build on the momentum. We were struggling at 32 for four after seven overs and captain Hardik Pandya took it upon himself to steady the ship.

Pandya, in the company of Abhinav Manohar, curbed the flow of wickets and slowly started manoeuvring the momentum away from them. The duo batted patiently, with skipper taking charge whenever it was necessary. Abhinav Manohar hit the first six of the innings to break the shackles a bit and their partnership went past the 50-mark. 

Pandya completed his fifty, but things got nervy after Manohar’s dismissal with 33 needed off 12 deliveries. Just as hope was fading away, Rahul Tewatia unleashed the magic inside him, producing another miraculous effort just when it mattered the most. 

Facing one of the fastest bowlers in the world (Anrich Nortje), Tewatia smacked three sixes in a row, one over fine-leg, followed by two magnificent strikes over cow-corner and long-on. Alas, even his heroics didn’t help us on the night, as Capitals emerged victorious by five runs courtesy of a good final over from Ishant Sharma.  

Brief Scores

Delhi Capitals 130/8 in 20 overs (Aman Khan 51, Mohammad Shami 4/11) Gujarat Titans 125/6 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 59, Khaleel Ahmed 2/24)

Player of the Match: Mohammad Shami