Aman Hakim Khan, bowlers shine as DC stun GT in low-scoring game

Tags: Indian T20 League 2023, Gujarat Titans vs Delhi Capitals, 44th Match at Ahmedabad, May 02, 2023, Delhi XI, Gujarat XI

Published on: May 03, 2023

Scorecard | Commentary | Graphs

Delhi Capitals (DC) beat Gujarat Titans (GT) by five runs in match number 44 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, May 2. In a low-scoring game, Delhi batted first after winning the toss and posted 130/6 on the board as Mohammed Shami claimed 4/11. Gujarat, however, were held to 125/6 despite skipper Hardik Pandya’s unbeaten 59 off 53 balls.

Delhi got off to a horror start with the bat as Phil Salt was caught off the first ball bowled by Shami. Skipper David Warner (2) was run out following a mix-up with Priyam Garg. Shami then had Rilee Rossouw (8), Manish Pandey (1) and Garg (10) caught behind.

A sixth-wicket stand of 50 between Aman Hakim Khan (51 off 44) and Axar Patel (27 off 30) lifted Delhi. Khan struck three fours and as many sixes, while Axar’s knock featured two fours and a six before he holed out off Mohit Sharma’s bowling. A handy cameo from Ripal Patel (23 off 13) took Delhi to 130.

Chasing the target, Gujarat were dealt early blows and reduced to 32/4 by the seventh over. Wriddhiman Saha (0) was caught behind, poking at a delivery from Khaleel Ahmed. Shubman Gill (6) was the next to go, dragging Anrich Nortje towards cover-point. Vijay Shankar (6) was outdone by a slower ball from Ishant Sharma, while David Miller (0) missed his scoop and was bowled by Kuldeep Yadav.

Hardik Pandya (59 off 53) and Abhinav Manohar (26 off 33) added 62 for the fifth wicket to keep Gujarat in the contest. Manohar struggled to time the ball before miscuing a pull off Ahmed. Rahul Tewatia (20 off 7) struck three consecutive sixes off the penultimate over bowled by Nortje to bring the equation down to 12 off six balls. Ishant, however, bowled a skilled last over, conceding only six runs and also getting the wicket of Tewatia.

Speaking after the win, Warner credited his bowlers. He commented, “Our bowlers were amazing. Our batters struggled but credit to the way Shami bowled. Credit to the way Aman and Ripal played from then on to get up that score. We just find ways to lose wickets in clumps; I always hate it when there's a run out. I don't know what's happening with our batting. We tried playing positively today with the bat, didn't come off.”

On the bowling performance, he elaborated, “Khaleel did well after coming back from injury, and Ishant is forever getting younger. I was nervous when Tewatia was going off, he has a reputation for that kind of stuff. Anrich is our most consistent death bowler, but couldn't get it right today. But Ishant was so clear with what he wanted to execute for us.”

--By A Cricket Correspondent

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