IPL 2025: Gujarat Titans vs Delhi Capitals, Match 35 - Who Said What?

The caravan of the ongoing IPL 2025 (Indian Premier League) moved forward with the Gujarat Titans (GT) taking on the Delhi Capitals (DC) on Saturday, April 19. Notably, the match was played at the iconic Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

On what was a batting-friendly pitch on offer, the captain of the home side, Shubman Gill, won the toss and decided to put runs on the board against the Axar Patel-led side. Interestingly, DC shuffled their usual batting order and sent the pair of Abishek Porel and Karun Nair to open the innings. The former gave a glimpse of his batting prowess by playing some beautiful shots, but fell prey to a full toss. After that, KL Rahul arrived at the crease and started scoring aggressively.

However, his innings was cut short after Prasidh Krishna bowled a yorker to trap him LBW (Leg Before Wicket) in front of the wickets. Although most of the Delhi batters got a good start, none of them managed to reach the 40-run mark. As a result, they lost their scoring momentum in the middle stages of the game.

Talking Points

1. Krishna shines for Gujarat

Pacer Prasidh Krishna starred with the ball for Gujarat Titans and ended up claiming the prestigious Purple Cap. Notably, Krishna bowled a sensational spell, claiming a four-wicket haul (4/41) despite being a bit expensive. Until the 19th over of the innings, GT used five bowlers. Among other notable bowling performances, Mohammed Siraj and Arshad Khan got the hosts crucial breakthroughs. While leg-spinner Rashid Khan, despite dropping a catch, quite cleverly mixed up his pace variations.

2. Lower order tries scoring quicker in final stages

Tristan Stubbs and Axar Patel stitched a steady 53-run partnership but lacked acceleration. Axar couldn't find boundaries in the death overs and fell while trying to force the pace. Ashutosh Sharma added some late fireworks, including two sixes off Prasidh. However, DC fell short of a dominant total as GT's bowlers closed out strongly.

The pair of Tristan Stubbs and Axar Patel put together a vital 53-run stand. However, they struggled to find boundaries at regular intervals when it mattered most. In the end, Ashutosh Sharma provided the final flourish by smacking Krishna for two sixes. Although what could have been a total of around 220 runs, DC failed to score big in the death stages and somehow managed to get past the 200-run mark.

3. Gill departs early, Nair's brilliant fielding

While chasing a target of 204 runs, the pair of Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill (7 runs off 5 balls) started on a good note. However, in the second over, Gill found himself short of the crease as Karun Nair’s brilliant fielding ended his knock. But this did not faze Sudharsan, who displayed his stellar stroke-making until he was dismissed by Kuldeep Yadav when GT were 74/1 in the eighth over.

Thereafter, the pair of Jos Buttler and Sherfane Rutherford got down to the rebuilding job. Buttler showed his experience by batting sensibly and rotating the strike consistently.

4. Buttler-Rutherford’s 119-run partnership

After the 11th over, Sherfane Rutherford decided to change gears and started by hitting a six off Kuldeep Yadav’s delivery. Just in the next over, he took pacer Mohit Sharma to the cleaners, while Buttler continued to anchor the partnership with exquisite fours and strike rotation. In the 15th over, Jos Buttler too joined the party and smashed the star of the last IPL 2025 match, Mitchell Starc, for five consecutive boundaries to push Delhi beyond the 150-run mark.

5. Buttler’s match-winning knock

While Rutherford showed some fireworks, Jos Buttler showed his class with some magnificent hitting. Although he almost got out in Starc’s over, as the fielder failed to judge the ball and ended up dropping the catch. As a result, the English wicketkeeper-batter continued to play attacking cricket and remained unbeaten on 97* runs off 54 balls.

While Rutherford got dismissed by Mukesh Kumar in the 17th over, everyone was hoping to see Buttler get a well-deserved century, but it wasn’t meant to be. Rahul Tewatia (11* runs off 3 balls) smoked Mitchell Starc for a six. In the last ball of Gujarat’s innings, Starc, known for his incredible bowling in clutch moments, almost nailed a yorker, only to see it go down the leg side to the boundary, sealing the game for Delhi Capitals.

Who Said What?

Shubman Gill, GT (Winning captain) said,

[Critical moments] The way we pulled the game back... at one point it looked like their total would be 220-230 but credit to the bowlers for pulling it back. Even in the first game, chasing around 245 we were right in the game and lost by around 10 runs. We've been chasing well. [On Sai Kishore] I think they were ahead in the game and I didn't want them to get too ahead in the game and with Axar batting there till almost the end, and the fast bowlers being tough to hit, so just wanted to continue with that. Magnificent the way Sherfane and Buttler rotated the strike and those hits were tremendous. Their partnership wasn't just brutal hitting, it was very calculated batting. The way they rotated strike and picked their bowlers was excellent.

Axar Patel, DC (Losing captain) said,

I think we were 10-15 runs short. I think that made the difference. When we wanted to accelerate, we kept losing set batters and we lost momentum and we couldn't finish how we wanted. Even if we got a couple more hits away in the last over we could have restricted them. We bowled well, but if we were a little better with our catching and fielding it would have been good, but we were short with our target. There is not too much to think about. We just need to learn what more we could have done and not make the same mistakes next time.

Jos Buttler, Player of the Match said,

Really pleased with the two points and winning the game. It was a beautiful wicket to bat on. Just wanted to bat deep and pick my moments to attack. [On the challenge of the heat] I think it takes you by the surprise how draining it is. I certainly felt that while batting, cramping up and stuff. But that's part of the game to be fit and be able to perform under pressure in the heat. [On catching] I've kept poorly in the first six games and I've been determined to do better. It's an area we all could improve. [His partnership with Rutherford] I've enjoyed batting with him this season. He can hit sixes out of nowhere. His two sixes off Mohit Sharma changed the game. [On missing his century] You want to win the game. It would have been nice, I had my chances, but the two points are nice. Rahul in lots of games comes on with few balls to face and can find the fence straight away so he's really cool under pressure.