It wasn’t our night in Ahmedabad, where the home side, Gujarat Titans, led by a brilliant Jos Buttler, pulled off a sensational run chase against the Delhi Capitals at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday, 19 April. The match went down to the final over, but GT sealed a seven-wicket win with four balls to spare.
Earlier in the afternoon, Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to field first.
Our top order made their intentions clear right from the outset. Openers Karun Nair and Abishek Porel wasted no time shifting gears, with Porel smashing 16 runs in the first over. Despite his early dismissal, Karun Nair and KL Rahul ensured the momentum stayed with us, maintaining a brisk scoring rate.
The pair put together a quick-fire 35-run stand off just 18 balls, with KL doing the bulk of the scoring. Just as he looked poised for a big innings, he was dismissed for 28 off 14 balls. Karun Nair continued to take charge, finding the boundaries with ease as we raced to 73/2 – our highest Powerplay score of the season so far.
Soon after the Powerplay, Karun was dismissed, and the scoring rate dipped slightly. However, skipper Axar Patel (39 off 22) and Tristan Stubbs (31 off 21) steadied the innings with a crucial partnership, adding 53 runs and keeping us in a strong position heading into the death overs.
Ashutosh Sharma then took over, once again showcasing why he’s considered one of the most exciting young finishers in T20 cricket. He hammered 37 off just 19 balls, including two fours and three sixes. His late surge, capped by a boundary from Kuldeep Yadav off the final delivery, pushed us past the 200-run mark, ending the innings at 203/8. Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the GT bowlers, finishing with four wickets.
After the break, we struck early with a run-out. A mix-up between Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan saw the GT skipper fall short of his crease, courtesy of a sharp direct hit from Karun Nair at mid-wicket.
Sudharsan looked to rebuild with Jos Buttler, and the duo put together a solid partnership for the second wicket. But Kuldeep Yadav’s introduction proved timely, as he dismissed Sudharsan for a well-made 36 off 21 balls, bringing the contest back to even footing.
From there, Sherfane Rutherford and Jos Buttler took control. The pair added a game-changing 129-run partnership, with Buttler bringing up a fine half-century and inching close to the triple-digit mark. Rutherford’s dismissal in the penultimate over gave us a glimmer of hope, but it wasn’t enough.
Needing 10 runs off the final over, Rahul Tewatia finished the job for GT with a six and a four, sealing the win. With the result, Gujarat Titans notched up their fifth victory of the season, moving to the top of the table with 10 points.
We'll look to bounce back and reclaim the top spot in our next clash against Lucknow Super Giants on April 22.
Brief Scores
Delhi Capitals 203/8 in 20 overs (Axar Patel 39, Ashutosh Sharma 37, Karun Nair 31; Prasidh Krishna 4/41) lost to Gujarat Titans 204/3 in 19.3 overs (Jos Buttler 97*, Sherfane Rutherford 43)
Player of the Match: Jos Buttler
