IPL16: Gujarat Titans (GT) vs Delhi Capitals (DC) – Match 44 : Ahmedabad
Delhi Woes A Plenty
There was nothing more that could have gone wrong for Delhi Capitals, than what has transpired in this IPL season so far. A team which boasted of some great talent, a decent bowling attack and a batting line up to be envious of, has been languishing at the bottom of the table with its batting line-up crumbling match after match, with an encore in the waiting as DC visited Ahmedabad to take on the defending Champions.
Shami The Magician
Shami the Magician was in mesmerising form for GT. With the White ball at his command, he made it swing, seam, swirl and what not. Poor DC batters just perishing as Shami cast his deadly web. He bowled 4 overs on the trot and by the time he finished he had already scalped 4, for nothing virtually. It was an exhibition of sorts. The upright seam, the nagging length and the movement both ways was too much to handle. A horrendous run out of Warner including, DC were 5 down in the blink of an eye. Nothing was going right for them. They had fallen into a deep Abyss.
Aman Hakim Khan & The Rescue Act
There was help coming, though from a rather unexpected source, Aman Hakim Khan, who in previous games had been disappointing, but this was a real test and somehow Aman managed to hang on and stitched a decent partnership with Axar Patel. However as soon as the partnership was beginning to flourish, Axar holed out, and then came in the strongly built Ripal Patel. Both Aman and Ripal played bravely and managed to reach 130, which had looked highly improbable earlier, with Aman registering his maiden IPL Fifty.
GT Flounder….Unusually
It was going to be an easy chase for GT considering their form with the bat. However they took things for granted and before they could realise they were 4 down with the scoring rate moving at a snail’s pace. Hardik Pandya and Abhinav Manohar stemmed the rot and steadied the innings. With not much to get, they were going merrily along, quite sure they would get there in the end. But stranger things have happened in cricket and a determined DC led by a super charged Warner, sensed an opportunity.
Ishant Stops Tewatia As Delhi Triumph
Abhinav Manohar perished trying to force the pace, but by then, the equation had swung in DC’s favour, though GT still had Iceman Tewatia and their well set captain Hardik at the crease. In the penultimate over, Tewatia cleaned up Anrich Nortje with 3 consecutive 6s. The tide had turned gain, with 12 required of the last over. The experienced Ishant Sharma then bowled a ripper of an over and denied GT.
Party Spoilers on the Prowl
DC had won the match from nowhere. From the depths of the Abyss they had risen and beaten the Champs. A listless Delhi, who had been playing mediocre, cagey cricket devoid of self belief had suddenly come to life. The fortunes might just have undergone a change and though Delhi have just a mathematical possibility for qualifying for the play offs, they might surely enough, spoil someone else’s party.
What a morale lifting victory for DC.
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Featured Image : Victorious DC /pic courtesy Financial Express