IPL 2023: Hardik fifty, Shami four-fer in vain as DC beats GT

Skipper Hardik Pandya’s unbeaten fifty (59 not out) and Mohammed Shami’s four-fer (4-11) went in vain as Delhi Capitals beat Gujarat Titans by five runs in Match No. 44 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at Narendra Modi Stadium, here on Tuesday. Seasoned pacer Shami’s sensational four-fer helped Gujarat Titans restrict Delhi Capitals to 130/8 in 20 overs despite a fighting fifty from Aman Hakim Khan (51 off 44). Apart from Shami, Mohit Sharma (2-33) and Rashid Khan (1-28) were the other wicket-takers for Titans while Axar Patel (27 off 30) and Ripal Patel (23 off 13) were the other main contributors with the bat after Aman. Chasing a small total, Delhi Capitals also had a poor start as they lost three wickets inside the Power-play and scored just 31 runs. It was Khaleel Ahmed, who drew first blood for Delhi Capitals by getting Wriddhiman Saha caught behind for a duck in the last delivery of the very first over of the innings. Skipper Hardik Pandya walked into the middle to give company to Shubman Gill, who started well by hitting a boundary off Ishant Sharma. However, Anrich Nortje was introduced in the attack soon and he dismissed Gill, who timed the ball straight to the cover fielder. Vijay Shankar has been in good form this season and Gujarat had high hopes from him but Ishant bowled a brilliant knuckleball to get rid of the Tamil Nadu batter, leaving Titans in a precarious position at 26-3 after 4.6 overs. Defending champions Gujarat needed a partnership to rebuild their innings but new man David Miller tried to play a cute paddle sweep off Kuldeep Yadav but was bowled, adding misery to his team’s position. Gujarat Titans were 32-4 when Miller got out and Hardik was watching his batting partners going back to the pavilion one after another. The skipper needed some support and it came from Abhinav Manohar. The duo of Hardik and Abhinav played cautiously against spin twins Kuldeep and Axar Patel, who were bowling nicely to keep things in co