‘Ishant is forever getting younger and coming out and delivering’ - David Warner lauds experienced pacer after GT heroics

Veteran pacer Ishant Sharma was fantastic in Delhi Capitals’ match against Gujarat Titans in the IPL 2023 as he picked up two wickets, conceding only 23 runs in his four overs. Notably, with 12 to get in the final over, the home team had the upper hand as GT skipper Hardik Pandya was looking in great touch while Rahul Tewatia hit three back-to-back sixes in the penultimate over to bring his team back into the game.

However, Sharma conceded only six runs in his final over as the visiting team pulled off a heist at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. They were 23/5 after five overs and thus, the David Warner-led side was under tremendous pressure. However, courtesy of Axar Patel (27) and Aman Khan (51), they posted a target of 131 runs, which GT eventually failed to chase. DC’s bowlers were on point on the night as they managed to register their third win of the season.

“With Ishant forever getting younger and coming out and delivering, it's amazing to see him. How much did he hold his nerves there at the end, credit to him. I was nervous there when Tewatia was going off. He's renowned for that, he always hits the ball nice and clean towards the back end. Our best death bowler at the end has been Anrich. I passed the ball to him. Ishant was so clear with what he wanted to execute and he was able to do that,” Warner said in the post-match presentation.

Batters and particularly myself did not finish and we disappointed Shami: Hardik

Ace pacer Mohammed Shami wreaked havoc with the ball, as he picked up four wickets within the powerplay and gave GT a perfect start in the match. However, with the bat, despite scoring a half-century and remaining not-out, Pandya couldn’t help his team get over the line and in the end, took all the blame on himself.

"The way he (Shami) bowled four on the trot and got us in the game, full credit. As I said, batters and particularly myself did not finish and we disappointed him. It’s still a lot of games left. We’ll take all the learnings from this game and rectify it a little better and move on,” Pandya stated.

With the win, DC now have six points to their name but are still at the bottom of the IPL Points Table while Gujarat remain at the top.