IPL 2023: Delhi Capitals vs Gujarat Titans Match 7 - Talking Points and Who Said What?

The Indian Premier League season 16 continued its breathtaking action on Tuesday, April 4 as Delhi Capitals hosted Gujarat Titans in Match 7 at the Arun Jaitely Stadium, Delhi. The visiting captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and invited the home team to bat first.

Delhi’s batting was put to test against some top-notch bowling by the Gujarat seam duo of Mohammad Shami and Alzarri Joseph. Both Shami and Joseph picked up two wickets each in their first spell leaving Delhi reeling at 67/4 after 8.3 overs. A brilliant knock of 36 off 22 from Axar Patel helped DC reach 162/8 in their allotted 20 overs.

In reply, Gujarat Titans were struck by some early blows from Anrich Nortje who removed openers Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill cheaply. Khaleel Ahmed also picked the prized scalp of Hardik Pandya to give Gujarat their third blow. However, a brilliant knock of 62* off 48 balls by Sai Sudharsan made sure Gujarat reached home without any further trouble as they won the match by 6 wickets and 11 balls to spare. As Gujarat continued their victory march, let’s take a look at the talking points from the match:

1 - Gujarat’s impeccable bowling

Captain Hardik Pandya managed his bowlers well and used them to full effectiveness at different stages of the innings. Mohammed Shami picked up 3/41 in his four-over spell which included wickets of Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, and Axar Patel. Alzarri Joseph dismissed David Warner and Rilee Rossouw in the same over to break the back of DC’s batting. Star Spinner Rashid Khan was also amongst the wickets and finished with 3/31 in his four-over spell.

2 - Delhi’s batting failure in the second consecutive game

DC’s batting line-up once again looked helpless for the second consecutive time. Captain David Warner looked to be in a shell like in the first game and failed to break through. Apart from him, Prithvi Shaw, Mitchell Marsh, and Rilee Rossouw departed cheaply putting pressure on the lower order. DC’s batters need to convert their starts into big scores going ahead in the tournament.

Losing Skipper, David Warner said:

Don't think I was surprised (early movement for GT seamers). It did swing a lot more than anticipated. And from the other end it kept a little low. They showed how to adapt to situations. Got another 6 games here. Have to be on point and expect that swing in the first few overs. We were in the game till the back end. Sai batted well. Miller does what he does. With the dew also, it'll be challenging if you don't get 180-190. Was because of the wicket (Axar not bowling) - and the matchups. 

Winning skipper, Hardik Pandya said:

It was funny at the start, we didn't know exactly what was happening but something was happening. We gave 15-20 runs extra in the powerplay. The way the bowlers pulled back was amazing. I go with my instinct, I like to back myself. I would rather back my own decision and fall down rather than thinking something else. Most often, I rather punch first rather than take the punch. We tell the boys to enjoy there. It helps you take the right decisions. Someone's putting their hand up. We have spoken about this. Taking care of each other is more important. He (Sai Sudharsan) is been batting terrifically. Credit to the support staff and to him as well. The amount of batting he's done in the last 15 days, all the result you see is all his hard work. Going forward, if I'm not wrong, in two years, he'll do something great for franchise cricket and eventually for India cricket as well.

Sai Sudharsan, Player of the Match said:

Thanks for backing me. A little bit nervous as this is my first time here. I was thinking what has to be done right. I wasn't under pressure, I was just calculating the right things. It was a bit low and skidding through, I was thinking to take the right options. My plan was to take the game deep and taking it through. Weathering the storm early on (was more satisfying). It was quite difficult, it was seaming initially, that was the highlight for me.