On a small ground in the state of Delhi, a total of 30 times the ball cleared the ropes, 19 times in the second innings, which wrote a script of Delhi’s win in the contest.
Two youngsters Rishabh Pant and Sanju Samson shined for the team, while Gujarat could not defend a record total of 209 as this was the highest ever total chased at Feroz Shah Kotla stadium.
Delhi side had a poor beginning in this uphill task as they lost the wicket of skipper Karun Nair with only 24 runs on the board.
Rishabh Pant, who got a promotion in the previous game, continued to bat at number three and this batting order change worked in favour of the Delhi side as the youngster played some beautiful shots right from the start to set the tone for the chase. Taking inspiration from him, Samson too started to hit the ball hard in the quest to clear the fence.
It was Pant’s belligerent show out in the middle that really pushed Delhi behind the chase as Pant was talking to bowlers in terms of boundaries. He hit a total nine sixes and all of them so cleanly that only audience in the field reached out for it, not the nine fielders.
In no time, both the youngsters put Delhi on brink of a win by sharing 143 for the second wicket in just 10.3 overs. Samson’s wicket did not stop Pant from continuing his show as he took just two balls to push his score from an 87 to 97 but the pressure was felt and Pant was dismissed on 97, failing to score his first T20 century. It was the biggest disappointment of the day, for Delhites anyway.
The target was still 30 runs away when Pant was dismissed but the pair of Shreyas Iyer and Corey Anderson completed the formality in no time.
It was the aggressive batting from the pair of Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant that saw Delhi getting a step ahead of Gujarat in the game.
Toss too played an important role in the win as it was the home side that won the toss and kept the chasing trend on. Karun Nair decided to bowl first, giving the reason that chasing will be easy for them later.
Gujarat Lions had a poor start as they lost the wicket of their openers Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith on consecutive deliveries. Delhi immediately got an early advantage but soon, the experienced duo of Suresh Raina and Dinesh Karthik pulled the advantage from the home side.
Raina and Karthik took the note of the situation of the game and played intelligent cricket to keep Delhi wicketless for more than 10 overs. Meanwhile, they shared 133 runs for the third wicket, highest for Gujarat Lions for any wicket and put a team in a safe situation.
The experience was clearly visible in their innings as they were taking their risks but also restricted themselves when the situation demanded.
Skipper played an innings of 77 off 43 before bein ran out by Kagiso Rabada whereas Karthik was caught Corey Anderson, who pulled off a stunning catch to remove him.
Aaron Finch made an important contribution of 27 in last few overs and an inning of 18 from just seven deliveries helped Gujarat put up a historic total of 208 on the board.
But in the end, innings from two youngsters proved too much for Gujarat and with this win, Delhi continues to keep their hopes of next round alive whereas Gujarat Lions became the second team after Royal Challengers Bangalore to be ruled out of the tournament.