Mukesh Kumar held his nerve and defended four runs off the last ball to give Delhi Capitals a thrilling four-run win over Gujarat Titans in the 40th match of IPL 2024. GT set a target of 225 but ended his innings with 220/8 half-centuries from Sai Sudharsan and David Miller.
Chasing 225, GT started poorly as their captain Shubman Gill was dismissed by Anrich Nortje for just six runs in the second over. Wriddhiman Saha and Sai Sudharsan then steadied the ship with an 82-run stand before the former’s dismissal opened the floodgates.
Kuldeep Yadav broke the score in the 11th over by dismissing Saha for 39. Three runs later, Axar Patel dismissed Azmatullah Omarzai for just 1 and reduced GT to 98 for 3. Sudharsan, on the other hand, completed his fifty off 29 balls but failed to finish the game for his side.
His knock ended in the 13th over when Rasikh Salam sent him back for 65. The likes of Shahrukh Khan (8) and Rahul Tewatia (4) also failed to get going with the bat as GT lost six wickets for 152 in the 16th over. GT’s chances seemed completely exhausted at this stage before David Miller revived their hopes by scoring 24 runs in the 17th over.
He hit his compatriot Anrich Nortje for three sixes and a four in the over. In the same over, he also completed his 50 in just 21 balls. However, Mukesh Kumar dismissed him in the very next over with 55 to give DC the lead again. However, the drama wasn’t over yet.
In the 19th over, Rashid Khan hit a four while R Sai Kishore hit two sixes to collect 18 runs off Rasikh Salam’s over. On the last ball of the over, Rasikh Salam dismissed Sai Kishore. After needing 19 runs in the last over, Rashid first hit Mukesh Kumar for two fours.
The next two balls failed to produce a run as Rashid opted not to hit a single ball to keep the strike. He hit a six on the fifth ball to reduce the equation to five runs since the last ball. However, Mukesh Kumar held his nerve and bowled a point to give his side a four-run win.
DC vs GT: Delhi’s innings as it happened
Earlier in the game, captain Rishabh Pant’s unbeaten 88 runs helped DC recover from 44 for 3 to 224/4 in the allotted 20 overs after they were asked to bat first.
Sandeep Warrier gave GT the lead by taking three wickets in the powerplay. In the fourth over of the innings, he ended the 35-run stand between openers Jake Fraser-McGurk (23) and Prithvi Shaw (11) by dismissing both of them. In the sixth over he dismissed Shai Hope for just 5, leaving DC reeling at 44 for 3.
It was one-way traffic from this position as Rishabh Pant and Axar Patel steadied the ship for DC before giving them a strong position. The duo added 113 runs for the fourth wicket. The partnership ended in the 17th over when Noor Ahmad dismissed Axar for 66.
After Axar’s departure, Rishabh Pant and Tristan Stubbs provided the finishing touches by scoring an incredible 67 runs in the last three overs. Pant, who made 48 runs in 32 balls when Axar was dismissed, scored 40 runs in the last 11 balls.
In the last over of the innings, DC skipper Mohit Sharma hit for four sixes and a four while the pacer conceded 31 runs in the over. Pant’s 88-run knock came in just 43 balls and was studded with five fours and eight sixes. Stubbs, on the other hand, remained unbeaten with 26 runs off just seven balls.
DC vs GT scorecard:
