Rishabh Pant. (Photo Source: BCCI/IPL)
Gujarat Titans travelled to New Delhi to take on the home team Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium on Wednesday. The Titans had come into the match after winning against Punjab Kings in the previous game at the Mullanpur Stadium.
Shubman Gill won the toss and chose to bowl first a move which didn’t disappoint Rishabh Pant too much. The home side made two changes with Shai Hope coming in for David Warner. Lalit Yadav was replaced by Sumit Kumar while the Titans came into the game unchanged.
Powerplay: Overs 0.1 to 6 (Mandatory – 44/3)
Jake Fraser-McGurk and Prithvi Shaw got off to yet another fast start as the boundaries kept flowing. Sandeep Warrier removed both the opening batters in a space of four balls before getting his third wicket in the form of Shai Hope.
Delhi Capitals: 50 runs off 7.1 overs
After the fall of three early wickets, the onus was on Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel to do the rescue act. The 30-year-old spin bowler hit a boundary off Azmatullah Omarzai to give the home team something to cheer about.
Delhi Capitals: First Strategic time-out (68/3 from 9 overs)
Shubman Gill decided to press Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad in tandem. Both Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant decided to use the long handle to put the Titans spin duo under pressure.
Delhi Capitals: 100 runs from 11.4 overs
The pair of Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel decided to fight fire with fire and took the aggressive route. The pair opened their arms and hit fours and sixes with ease to take the score past the three-figure mark.
Half-Century: Axar Patel off 37 Balls
Delhi Capitals’ decision to send Axar Patel to bat at No.3 paid rich dividends. The 30-year-old all-rounder got to his first half-century of the season with a four off Rashid Khan much to the delight of the fans.
Delhi Capitals: Second Strategic Time-Out (143/3 from 16 overs)
The three wickets taken by Sandeep Warrier at the start of the innings were the only success enjoyed by the visitors. Both Axar Patel and Rishabh Pant then punished the listless-looking Gujarat Titans batters.
Half-Century: Rishabh Pant off 34 balls
Noor Ahmad got the key wicket of Axar Patel for 66 runs from 43 balls. Rishabh Pant got to his half-century with a huge six off Mohit Sharma to send the Delhi crowd into delirium.
End of the Innings: Delhi Capitals: 222/4 from 20 overs
R Sai Kishore was brought into bowl in the 19th over of the innings and was smashed for 22 runs. The last over from Mohit Sharma yielded 31 runs as Rishabh Pant ended his innings on 88 not out from 43 balls.
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