Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], April 19 (ANI): Despite not featuring too many superstars of the game, Gujarat Titans (GT) have managed to punch above their weight as a unit, reaching the top spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) standings after a win over Delhi Capitals (DC) at Ahmedabad on Saturday.
A 119-run stand between Jos Buttler and Sherfane Rutherford helped the 2022 champions cross the target of 204 runs at Narendra Modi Stadium, also completing their best run chase ever in IPL history. A large reason for GT’s success has been their excellence against spin.
Against spin, GT has scored 419 runs in 258 balls and their batters have been only dismissed eight times by spin in these seven games so far. The batting average of GT against spin as a batting unit is 52.37, the strike rate is 162.40, dot ball percentage is just 21.6, and the boundary percentage is 22.09.
In average, strike rate, dot ball, and boundary percentage, GT stands tall as the best among all teams.
GT won the toss and elected to bowl first. A quickfire start from Karun Nair (31 in 18 balls, with two fours and two sixes) and KL Rahul (28 in 14 balls, with four boundaries and a six), a half-century stand between Axar Patel (39 in 32 balls, with a four and two sixes) and Tristan Stubbs (with two fours and a six) and fine finishing by Ashutosh Sharma (37 in 19 balls, with two fours and three sixes) took DC to 203/8 in 20 overs.
Prasidh Krishna (4/41) was the top bowler for GT, while Mohammed Siraj, Arshad Khan, Ishant Sharma, and Sai Kishore got a wicket each.
During the run-chase, GT lost skipper Shubman Gill early, however, Jos Buttler (97* in 54 balls, with 11 fours and four sixes) and his partnerships with Sai Sudharsan (36 in 21 balls, with five fours and a six) and Sherfane Rutherford (43 in 34 balls, with a four and three sixes) took GT to a seven-wicket win with four balls left.
Buttler secured the ‘Player of the Match’ award for his knock.
With their fifth win in seven matches, GT have climbed to the top of the points table, displacing DC to the second spot, who suffered their second loss. (ANI)
