Delhi Capitals skipper David Warner gave credit to his bowlers after their thrilling five-run win against defending champions Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Tuesday. DC could only manage 130 runs on the board after Warner won the toss and decided to bat first.
In fact, the visitors got off to a worse possible start as they were rocked by Mohammed Shami. They were reduced to 23-5 after five overs as Shami got the ball to swing to reap his rewards. It was high-quality bowling from the veteran as he delivered for the reigning champions.
However, Aman Khan (53 off 44) and Axar Patel (27 off 30) steadied the ship for DC as they added 50 runs for the sixth wicket. On the other hand, DC bowlers were also right on the money and kept putting GT under pressure.
Ishant Sharma and Khaleel Ahmed scalped two wickets each whereas Kuldeep Yadav bowled a parsimonious spell of 1-15 in his four overs. 12 runs were needed off the final over but Ishant Sharma held his nerves against Rahul Tewatia and Hardik Pandya to help his team register a famous win.
David Warner said in the post-match presentation. “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.”
He added, “We then wanted to come out and swing the ball, get early wickets. 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.”
The target of 131 is the lowest which has been defended by Delhi Capitals in the history of the IPL. A lot of credit for their win goes to their bowlers who bowled in the right areas to keep GT at bay.
DC will next take on Royal Challengers Bangalore on Saturday at the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Delhi.
