Titans defend successfully
As expected after that Powell wicket, it is all over. Gujarat Titans have become the second team to have defended successfully this IPL. Thanks for joining us. We leave you with a teaser from our report.
Shubman Gill’s great lone hand with the bat nearly went in vain but Lockie Ferguson put in a great bowling performance of his own to drag Gujarat Titans to only the third successful defence in this IPL. Gill scored a personal-best 84 off 46 in a breathtaking yet silken innings; other, including extras, managed just 87 off 74 balls. It was a strictly middling total, which Capitals looked like cruising to on two occasions, but an accurate and quick Ferguson produced two two-wicket overs to skittle the chase with figures of 4-0-28-4. Gill was particularly severe on spin, scoring 45 off 21 balls from Axar Patel and Kuldeep Yadav, who conceded just 24 in the remaining 27 balls between them as they had reason to believe they actually controlled the middle overs. Just as the DC batters would have thought they were in control but once it gets up to 145kmph and above – even some of his offcutters were that quick – and it gets higher than the chest, funny things happen. Rishabh Pant, Prithvi Shaw, Axar Patel and Mandeep Singh all fell to his short-pitched bowling.
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Game, set, match?
Mohammed Shami has trapped Rovman Powell right in front with a quick offcutter. They now need 29 off 16 with just two wickets in hand. They now have only a 19% chance to win.
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Powell keeps Capitals breathing
Rovman Powell has not only seen Lockie Ferguson off without further damage but has also managed to steer him for a four. He is 20 off 11 now. Capitals need 30 off the last three. Win probability 455
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Rashid signs off with a wicket
DC have done well to deny Rashid Khan a wicket and also go at better than a run a ball against him but with his last ball, Rashid takes Shardul Thakur along with him. Caught dead plumb by a wrong'un. Four overs left and 38 to get, the win probability is now down to 44%.
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Four-star Ferguson
You thought it was too late to get Rishabh Pant out? Lockie Ferguson has taken out Axar Patel in the same over with a quick offcutter down the leg side. That makes DC's win probability dip to 54%. They still have Shardul Thakur but 46 runs is a long journey. Ferguson is 3-0-20-4.
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Ferguson keeps Titans in it
Hardik Pandya is not left with many options but to go back to Lockie Ferguson, who starts off with a 145kmph bouncer widish outside off. Pant has to drag it from there because he has committed to the hook. But he hasn't the time to do it. He just ends up sort of helping it along, and the top edge carries to long leg. Gone for 43 off 29. Win probability falls from 64% to 62%. So our model probably thinks it is too late to get this wicket. Otherwise there would have been a big dip.
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Capitals surge ahead
The fifth bowler is hurting Gujarat Titans, and Delhi Capitals have consciously targeted that combination. And it's not like the original fifth bowler, Varun Aaron, has bowled badly. His one over has cost seven, but then Pandya has gone to Vijay Shankar in the 12th and Rahul Tewatia in the 14th. Shankar goes for 14 despite the Lalit Yadav run-out in that over. And Tewatia concedes 13. Their win probability at the end of the 14th over is 65%.
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Pant throws flame at fires
They are bowling quick, and Rishabh Pant is hitting harder. He is 24 off 14, and has taken DC's winning probability to 37% with 11 overs to go. Pull, upper cut, the occasional outer edge, all working for him.
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Ferguson on fire
In the same over Ferguson has Mandeep Singh hopping. Mandeep looks to make room to use his pace, but he is playing with fire. The extra bounce takes the top edge through to the keeper. DC 34 for 3 after five overs.
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Pace, bounce, accuracy
That's Lockie Ferguson. The first ball he bowls is at the throat of Prithvi Shaw, and he is late on the hook. Caught in the deep. DC 32 for 2 in 4.1 overs.
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Hardik Pandya. Opening bowler
Hardik Pandya is batting at 4 these days and coming in early, and now even opening the bowling. What a turnaround in fitness this has been. And he has got Tim Seifert with the first ball he bowls as the ball sits in the surface a little. And he looks sharp. That is great news for India. DC 10 for 1 in two overs.
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171 it is
87 Runs contributed, including extras, by those named Gill, in 74 balls. It is the sublime 84 off 46 from Gill that has given GT some sort of target to bowl at
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Khaleel Ahmed has Gill too
He is possibly just keeping the seat warm for Anrich Nortje, but Khaleel Ahmed has bowled the difficult overs and taken big wickets today. Just when Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya were opening up, Khaleel took Pandya out in the 14th over. And then he gets the 18th to bowl, and the first ball is a slower bouncer. Gill plays the short-arm jab, which might have worked with an on-pace ball, as it has all night, but it doesn't now. Gill is gone for 84 off 46. GT 145 for 4 in 17.1
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Will the real Hardik please stand up?
The question is, do you really need a 27-ball 31 in T20s? Especially when the toss handicap is so huge that you need par-plus-20 to be in the contest?
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Gill keeps going
Khaleel Ahmed manages to get rid of Hardik Pandya with not much damage done - 31 off 26 - but Shubman Gill continues to carry this innings almost single-handedly. He has scored 32 off 11 since his fifty, which makes his 82 off 43. The other 53 balls have produced 54 runs. Gill is looking silken, and we could have out second century of the day as we enter the last four overs.
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Fifty for Gill
It has taken 32 balls to come, which is good pace given there have been only 48 scored at the other 46 balls. Gill is known for his middling strike rate in T20s but this has been a different innings. He has been the only one who has batted with fluency.
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Pandya's slow start
19 Number of balls it has taken Hardik Pandya to go past a run a ball. GT 75 for 2 in 11 overs
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Is No. 3 the right spot for Shankar?
112 Vijay Shankar's strike rate when batting at No. 3. He averages 21 there. So his average innings is 21 off 19 at that position
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Tide turning for Kuldeep
It is amazing how everything starts falling in place once a critical mass falls in place. Last IPL, Kuldeep Yadav was not getting a game, forget being India's No. 1 overseas Test spinner. This year he has been brought back to the Indian side for a while. He has come to DC a much more confident bowler. After the Player-of-the-Match performance in game one, he has got a wicket first ball. And look how it has come to him. He is bowling to an under-pressure Vijay Shankar who is stuck in a hole and has no choice but to hit out. And Kuldeep takes the bottom edge onto the leg stump. Shankar gone for 13 off 20. GT 51 for 2 aftwer seven overs.
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How do you approach batting first?
KKR and PBKS have tried being ultra aggressive to give themselves a chance to eliminate the toss disadvantage even if it means risking a one-sided loss. They both ended up with below-par totals. CSK succeeded in putting on 210 but they still lost. And in this game, we have the ball moving around for the first couple of overs, which has out GT on the back foot, something that will not happen if there is dew in the second innings. Dew is a problem that will likely only be countered when the pitches become tired and slow down remarkably in the second innings. GT 28 for 1 in four overs.
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He's the Fizz, and nobody scoops him
In the first over, out of nowhere, Matthew Wade tries to ramp Mustafizur Rahman, and gets a faint edge through to Rishabh Pant, who has to ask for a review to send Wade back.
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T20 Timeout
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For the lucky ones in the US
Those of you in the US can watch the action live on ESPN+ in English or in Hindi
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Capitals bowl, welcome Mustafizur
All kinds of good news for Rishabh Pant at the toss. Well, half of it he knew already. That Mustafizur Rahman is in for Kamlesh Nagarkoti. And then Pant won the toss and elected to field, which we know is a huge advantage on fresh pitches, especially in the night. That's the only change they have made. Guharat Titans remain unchanged.
Gujarat Titans 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Matthew Wade (wk), 3 Vijay Shankar, 4 Abhinav Manohar, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt.), 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Varun Aaron, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Mohammed Shami
Delhi Capitals 1 Prithvi Shaw, 2 Tim Seifert, 3 Mandeep Singh, 4 Rishabh Pant (capt. & wk), 5 Rovman Powell, 6 Lalit Yadav, 7 Axar Patel, 8 Shardul Thakur, 9 Kuldeep Yadav, 10 Khaleel Ahmed, 11 Mushtafizur Rahman
Pant vs Pandya
It's game 10 already, what? Yes it is. The ninth one is on as we speak. Only one of the other eight has been won by the side batting first. And we are into the night again. So the crucial toss between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans is coming up shortly.
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