Gujarat Titans (GT) suffered a narrow five-run defeat at the hands of Delhi Capitals (DC) in a low-scoring thriller at Ahmedabad on Tuesday (May 2).
Opting to bat first, the Capitals posted a modest 130/8 on the board. Aman Hakim Khan was the top scorer with 44-ball 51.
Pacer Mohammad Shami ran through the DC batting line-up, returning with the figures of 4 for 11 in his four-over spell.
In reply, the defending champions managed 125/6 in their allotted 20 overs. While skipper Hardik Pandya scored 59 not out off 53 balls, he failed to take his team over the finishing line.
After the game, Hardik took responsibility for the loss, stating that he should have finished the game for his side.
"Obviously, we would have taken 129 on any given day. Just lost a couple of wickets but Rahul got us back in the game. I tried hard but failed to get across the line. We were hoping to get a couple of big overs in the middle overs. We couldn't get a rhythm as well," Hardik said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
During the chase, the Titans were reduced to 26/3 in the powerplay. However, Pandya held one end firmly and found an able partner in Abhinav Manohar. They forged an extremely crucial partnership to keep the hosts in the chase.
The 62-run stand between Hardik and Manohar came to an end in the 17th over as the latter perished for 26. Afterwards, Rahul Tewatia came in and smashed three sixes in the penultimate over to make the equation 12 runs in the last over but he could not finish the job as Ishant Sharma delivered a brilliant final over, conceding only 6 runs from it.
"It came down to me as I couldn't finish the game. But full marks for the way they bowled. The wicket didn't play much role. It was about us feeling the pressure due to the loss of wickets. Rahul got us back in the game, but it wasn't enough. We kept losing wickets and it was difficult to keep the intent. That puts us under more pressure,” Hardik added.
"I feel sorry for Shami to be honest. The batters were disappointed tonight. The ball didn't do a lot. It was all about Shami's skills tonight. Full credit to him. But as I said, the batters were disappointed and I was not good at all. Still a lot of games left. We will learn from this game and look to rectify those in the upcoming games. We need to keep playing good cricket," he concluded.
