IPL 2023, DC v GT: Sudharsan’s 62* leads Gujarat Titans to second consecutive victory

IPL 2023, Delhi Capitals (DC) v Gujarat Titans (GT), Top Performances: Sai Sudharsan’s 62*, Mohammed Shami-Alzarri Joseph's 5-70 and Anrich Nortje's 2-39 are top performances. Gujarat Titans beat Delhi Capitals and move to first spot in Points table.

Sai Sudharsan scored 62 off 48 against Delhi Capitals (Images: ©IPL/Twitter)

Brief Scores: GT 163/4 (Sudharsan 62*, Miller 31, Nortje 2/39) beat DC 162/8 (Axar 36, Rashid 3/31, Shami 3/41) by six wickets

Player of the Match: Sai Sudharsan (62* in 48 balls)

After a heavy defeat in their opening game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG), hosts Delhi Capitals (DC) locked horns with defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) in the seventh game of the sixteenth season of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi.

It was a return for the Capitals to their home ground after a gap of 1432 days but the home side just had a winning percentage of 44, winning 31 out of 70 games on this ground.

Lack of batting, Warner’s form and imbalanced bowling unit pressurising Delhi

The most vital issue for Delhi Capitals is the form of their leader David Warner who is eating many a deliveries and failing to score quick runs in the powerplay. They also left out Rovman Powell which hurt the balance of their team.

In the bowling department, they are missing different resources in their bowling like they used to have in the past. Rilee Rossouw can’t bat lower in the batting order and they also do not have a stable fast bowling all-rounder and all these things are breaking the balance of their whole team. They need to sort it quickly going forward in this tournament.

Gujarat Titans record second consecutive victory with all-round show

Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya on winning the toss opted to bat first on a track which looked really flat and good for batting, Delhi handed a debut cap to 20-year-old wicketkeeper batter Abishek Porel besides bringing Anrich Nortje for Rovman Powell, while Titans added Sai Sudharsan and David Miller in place of Vijay Shankar and Kane Williamson, who is ruled out of the tournament with knee injury.

Put into bat first, Delhi Capitals had a decent powerplay with 52/2, mostly because of some inconsistent bowling from the pacers of the Gujarat Titans who later made a great comeback to reduce the hosts to 78/4 at the halfway mark. Delhi somehow managed to take themselves to 121/5 before a few big hits from Axar Patel carried them to 162/8 in their allotted 20 overs.

After a quick start that led to 22 runs without any damage in the first couple of overs, Gujarat were rocked back to 54/3 in the powerplay before a vital 53-run stand for the third wicket between Sai Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar shouldered them to 117/4 in 15 overs. Sudharsan’s fifty and David Miller’s 16-ball 31* led them to their second consecutive victory of the campaign.

Read More: IPL 2023: Key player match ups to look forward to this week

Let’s scan the top three performances from the game between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans in IPL 2023.

Alzarri Joseph took 2-29 against Delhi Capitals (Images: ©IPL/Twitter)

Shami-Joseph punctured Capitals with hostile pace bowling

The new ball bowling from the Gujarat Titans was little off-colour with some inconsistent bowling but they made an energetic comeback breathing fire in the middle phase of the game.

Mohammed Shami drew first blood sending back Prithvi Shaw on 7 who rushing into the short ball pulled it straight into the hands of the mid-on fielder. It was the second time Shami got the better of Shaw besides conceding 42 T20 runs in 32 balls. In his last over of the powerplay, Shami broke the furniture of Mitchell Marsh who got a big inside edge onto the stumps.

Alzarri Joseph coming back for his second over caged the opponent captain David Warner on 37 who in trying to cut the ball chopped it onto the stumps. It was the second time in T20s that Warner was undone off Joseph besides scoring just 10 runs in nine balls. On the very next ball, Joseph bounced out Rilee Rossouw on a duck in the hands of the backward point fielder.

Coming back to bowl his last over, Shami ended the fiery knock of Axar Patel on 36 who sliced the full ball straight to the sweeper cover. Shami who returned 3/41 in his four overs now has 104 IPL wickets while Alzarri Joseph, finishing with 2/29 in his four overs now has 17 IPL scalps.

Read More: IPL 2022, Final, GT vs RR, Top Performances: Pandya's 3-17 & 34 hands GT maiden silverware

Nortje took 2-39 against Gujarat (Images: ©IPL/Twitter)

Anrich Nortje breathed fire to break the Titans

Defending an average total against a heavy batting unit, Delhi Capitals were looking for some inspirational bowling and Anrich Nortje provided them that exactly.

Coming in the third over of the game, Nortje on his very first ball sent back opener Wriddhiman Saha on 14 with a fiery delivery that nipped back sharply to break the stumps. It was the second time in T20s that Nortje dismissed Saha besides conceding nine balls at a strike rate of 100.

On the first ball of his second over, Nortje in the same fashion sent back Shubman Gill on 14. It was the second time Nortje had the better of Gill besides going for 34 T20 runs in 21 balls. He finished with 2/39 in four overs to now have 45 IPL wickets in 31 games.

Read More: IPL 2023, LSG v DC: Super Giants decimate Capitals, courtesy Wood's magnificent 5-wicket haul

Sai Sudharsan stayed steady for unbeaten 62 runs

After losing couple of quick wickets, Gujarat needed someone to stand there and hold one end when Sai Sudharsan arrived in the middle at number three.

The left-handed batter began with a beautiful drive against Mukesh Kumar beating the short cover fielder before scooping Anrich Nortje over fine leg for a huge six on a free-hit delivery to get the momentum going. He played Khaleel Ahmed through mid-on for a boundary before powering Kuldeep Yadav wide of extra cover for another boundary.

When he was not getting the boundaries, he was smartly taking singles and doubles to keep the scorecard moving before celebrating his second IPL fifty in 44 balls. He then cracked a six against Nortje over fine leg to remain unbeaten on 62 in 48 balls with the help of four boundaries and couple of sixes. Sudharsan now has 229 IPL runs in seven games.

Points Table Scenario & What’s to Come

Gujarat Titans now sit at the top of the table with two wins at a net run rate of +0.70, while Delhi Capitals have fallen down to the eighth position with a NRR of -1.73.

Rajasthan Royals (RR) and Punjab Kings will meet each other on April 5 at the Barsapara Cricket Stadium in Guwahati.

Read More: Will David Warner create magic for DC like he did when he captained SRH in IPL 2016?

IPL 2023 Points Table

IPL 2023 Points Table

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