New Delhi: Captain Rishabh Pant enthralled the home crowd by slamming an unbeaten 88 off 43 balls, while Axar Patel hit a 43-ball 66 and impact player Rasikh Salam picked a three-fer as Delhi Capitals edged Gujarat Titans by four runs in a thrilling run-fest to secure their fourth win of the tournament at the Arun Jaitley Stadium.
After Pant and Axar fifties, along with Tristan Stubbs’ unbeaten 26 lift DC to a mammoth 224/4, GT were quick in their run-scoring, thanks to 65 from B Sai Sudarshan, followed by 55 from David Miller. But DC triumphed in the end to get those crucial two points in a proper run-fest.
GT had the upper hand after electing to bowl first, thanks to Sandeep Warrier’s triple strikes in power-play and leaving DC in trouble. But Pant and Axar took their time, before launching a stunning onslaught against spinners to form a decisive 113-run partnership for the fourth wicket.
Axar made his promotion to number three count by hitting five fours and four sixes in his eye-catching knock at a strike-rate of 153.49. Pant, after being scratchy in his 44 against Sunrisers Hyderabad, was at his magnificent best in hitting eight sixes and five fours at a strike-rate of 204.6.
The duo being phenomenal with the bat meant GT spinners were rendered ineffective in middle overs and the visitors’ bowlers were promptly taken for cleaners in the death overs. Moreover, Warrier didn’t bowl out his final over, as DC took 97 runs in their final five overs.
Prithvi Shaw and Jake Fraser-McGurk hit six delightful boundaries as DC reached 34/0 in three overs. But Warrier bounced back in the fourth over after conceding 12 runs in his opening over.
