The 44th match of the IPL 2023 saw Gujarat Titans (GT) hosting the Delhi Capitals (DC) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, on May 2. GT came into the game as table toppers, while DC are at the bottom of the points table.
David Warner of DC won the toss and chose to bat first on the Ahmedabad track. Mitchell Marsh missed the encounter due to illness and Rilee Russouw replaced him in the DC XI, while Khaleel Ahmed made his return to the team as well.
Mohammad Shami proved to be a nightmare for DC top order as he picked wickets of Phil Salt, Priyam Garg, Rilee Russouw and Manish Pandey to finish with figures of 4/11 to leave DC 73/6 in 14 overs.
Then Aman Khan hit 51 and with support from Akshar Patel (27) and Ripal Patel (23), took DC to 130/8 in 20 overs.
In reply, DC bowlers also hurt GT in the powerplay as Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill. Vijay Shankar and David Miller all fell for single digit score with Miller falling for a duck.
What impressed everyone was the wicket of Vijay Shankar, who was foxed by Ishant Sharma, who bowled a well hidden knuckle ball and managed to beat Shankar’s willow as the ball crashed into the stumps.
Ishant managed to change the grip on the ball from normal one to knuckle ball one in a split second and Shankar looked to play the ball on the on side, but it never arrived and instead castled him.
Check it out here:
Ishant Sharma received rich praise from commentators for that delivery and one special legend also lauded him.
Dale Steyn was impressed with Ishant’s variation and tweeted: “Okay, Ishant just bowled the best knuckle ball wicket I’ve ever seen!”
