The 42nd match of the season saw two teams from the bottom half of the points table go head to head at the Feroz Shah Kotla Stadium in Delhi. A win was badly needed for both Delhi Daredevils and Gujarat Lions in order to boost their playoff chances.
Batting first after losing the toss, GL lost both their openers inside two overs and found themselves in trouble. But a magnificent partnership of 133 between Raina and Karthik propelled them to a huge score of 208/7 in 20 overs.
Extra Cover: IPL 2017, DD vs GL: 5 things that went wrong for Gujarat Lions
In reply, DD suffered the loss of their skipper Karun Nair early. But the youngsters Sanju Samson and Rishabh Pant went on the assault, making batting look easy. They constructed a massive partnership of 143 runs with Pant scoring 97. Delhi reached the target in just 17.3 overs and won the match by 7 wickets.
Take a look at how the players fared.
Gujarat Lions
Dwayne Smith – 3/10
The right-hander began beautifully with 2 boundaries in the first over and seemed to have found his groove. But he had to walk back after scoring just 9 owing to a mix-up with Raina in the second over.
Brendon McCullum – 1/10
The Kiwi batsman scored a solitary run off 2 balls in the first over. When he lined up to face the first ball of Kagiso Rabada, he encountered a peach of a delivery that took the outside edge and settled in the wicket-keeper’s gloves.
Suresh Raina – 9/10
The skipper of GL had luck on his side and was dropped twice in his stay at the crease. But he made full use of the opportunities and smashed 77 off just 43 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes that gave his side the momentum.
Dinesh Karthik – 8.5/10
The wicket-keeper batsman played the perfect foil for his captain and stitched a partnership of 133 with him that helped his side recover from the loss of 2 early wickets. He ended up with a superb 65 off 34 balls that included 5 fours and as many sixes. Karthik played a key role in his side scoring over 200.
Aaron Finch – 6/10
The Australian found himself at the crease after the fall of Raina in the 14th over. His job was to carry the momentum forward during the slog overs. He managed to play a cameo of 27 off 19 balls with 4 boundaries but departed in the penultimate over.
Ishan Kishan – 3/10
The left-hander was asked to bat low down the order, unlike the last game where he had opened the innings. The change didn’t work well for him as he could make just 4 runs off 6 balls.
Ravindra Jadeja – 5/10
Jadeja provided the finishing touch by hitting 2 consecutive sixes off the last 2 balls that took the GL score past 200. But while bowling, he became a victim of Pant and Samson’s onslaught. Although he did pick up the wicket of Samson, his figures read 28/1 in 2 overs.
James Faulkner – 2/10
Faulkner had a terrible night, one he would want to forget as soon as possible. While batting, he was dismissed after scoring just 1, and was then taken to the cleaners by the DD batsmen who collected 35 runs off him in just 2.3 overs.
Pradeep Sangwan – 4/10
The left-handed pacer began well with the new ball and accounted for the wicket of Karun Nair in the 3rd over with a rising delivery. But he too became a victim of the beating that Pant and Samson handed out and ended with figures of 43/1 in 4 overs.
Basil Thampi – 5.5/10
Thampi began well by giving away just 4 runs in his first over but was hit for two sixes in his next over by the duo of Samson and Pant. He came back well in the 15th over and removed Pant, conceding just 5 runs. But his last over went for 16 runs and he returned figures of 40/1.
Ankit Soni – 3/10
There was no respite for any of the DD bowlers and Soni too was in the firing line. He was taken for 10 runs in his first over that included a six from Pant. In his next over, Samson collected 2 sixes off him that hampered his figures to 26/0 in 2 overs and he wasn’t called back to bowl again.
Delhi Daredevils
Sanju Samson – 9/10
The opening batsman had a great time in the middle and added 143 runs for the second wicket alongside Rishabh Pant. Samson’s knock went slightly under the radar due to the onslaught of Pant, yet his innings of 61 off 31 balls was equally important in the context of the match.
Karun Nair – 4/10
Leading the side in the absence of Zaheer Khan, Nair didn’t have a great time with the bat. Initially, he hit 2 boundaries but was dismissed in the 3rd over for just 12 courtesy a rising delivery from Pradeep Sangwan.
Rishabh Pant – 10/10
The left-hander came out to bat with a mission to dismantle the opposition with his power-hitting. Pant hit as many as 9 sixes to go with 6 fours. He fell agonisingly short of a century, walking back after scoring 97 off just 43 balls, a knock that made the chase of 208 look like a walk in the park.
Shreyas Iyer – 5/10
Iyer walked to the crease in the 14th over after the fall of Samson. Pant was still going all guns blazing at the other end and hence Iyer didn’t have to do much. After Pant’s dismissal, he stayed unbeaten on 14 off 8 balls and ensured his team crossed the finishing line.
Corey Anderson – 5.5/10
Anderson picked up the wicket of James Faulkner in the dying stages of the innings but went for 36 runs in 3 overs. When he walked out to bat, the work was already done and he completed the formalities by scoring 18 off 12 balls, finishing the game with a six.
Marlon Samuels – 2/10
The West Indian made his debut for DD and was taken for 22 runs while bowling by Raina and Karthik. Samuels didn’t get a chance to bat.
Pat Cummins – 8/10
The Australian fast bowler proved to be effective even on a surface that aided the batsmen. He conceded just 30 runs in 4 overs and accounted for the wickets of Dinesh Karthik when he was looking dangerous and then Ishan Kishan during the slog overs.
Kagiso Rabada – 8/10
Another pacer who did well in batting-friendly conditions, Rabada bowled a beautiful first ball to remove McCullum. He could have had Raina as well but a dropped catch from Iyer denied him. He inflicted a run-out and also bagged the wicket of Finch to end with figures of 28/2 in 4 overs.
Shahbaz Nadeem – 3/10
The left-arm spinner bowled the first over of the innings and was hammered for two boundaries off the first two balls. He came back to bowl the 12th over but was hit for 2 sixes and a four that took his figures to 28/0 in 2 overs.
Amit Mishra – 3.5/10
It just wasn’t a night for spinners as they were taken apart ruthlessly. Mishra conceded 23 runs from 2 overs and remained wicketless.
Mohammad Shami – 3/10
The game turned out to be a nightmare for Shami as his first delivery was sent into the stands by Raina. Luck was certainly not on his side as Samuels then dropped Raina off Shami’s bowling. The speedster could not recover after that and ended with figures of 40/0 in 3 overs.
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