The State of Play
Rishabh Pant will hope to read the conditions a little better when the Delhi Capitals host the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2024 tomorrow.
Pant’s decision to put Sunrisers Hyderabad into bat on Saturday backfired spectacularly as the big-hitting visitors – led by Travis Head and Abhishek Sharma – smashed their way to 125 without loss in the powerplay, a record in a men’s T20.
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Sunrisers eventually finished on 266 for seven with the Capitals bundled out for 199 in reply despite another enterprising 65 off just 18 balls from rising Australia star Jake-Fraser McGurk.
Asked to explain his decision at the toss, Pant said: “The only thought process behind it was we thought there would be a bit of dew, which did not come.
“If we could have restricted them to 220-230 we still had a chance. [The ball] stopped more [on the surface] in the second innings than what we anticipated. But when you have 260-270 to defend, it gives bowlers confidence.”
It was a major blunder from Pant which led to the Capitals’ overall record slipping to three wins from eight games. Time is running out if they are to make it through to the play-offs.
They will hope veteran paceman Ishant Sharma will have overcome a back spasm in time to play.
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The Titans are 4-4 for the season but have hit some decent form, winning two of their last three.
Their most recent outing saw them overcome the Punjab Kings by three wickets.
Spinner Sai Kishore (four for 33) and Rahul Tewatia (36 not out) were the heroes as Shubman Gill’s men got over the line with five balls remaining.
Kishore has found opportunities hard to come by due to the form of Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad – who also starred against the Kings – but relished his moment in the spotlight with a player of the match display.
He said afterwards: “I am trying to give 120 per cent for the team. Playing after some time I was enjoying myself and giving my best. [I try to] be fearless and play for the team, whatever the result is.”
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— Delhi Capitals (@DelhiCapitals) April 22, 2024
Expected line-ups
Delhi Capitals: Shaw, Warner, Fraser-McGurk, Porel, Stubbs, Pant (c, wk), Patel, Nortje, K Yadav, Kumar, Ahmed
Gujarat Titans: Saha (wk), Gill (c), Sudharsan, Miller, Omarzai, Tewatia, MS Khan, R Khan, Kishore, Ahmad, Sharma
How to watch
Sky have the rights to show the IPL to UK viewers in 2024 and will broadcast every game live. Wednesday’s match will be shown on Sky Sports Cricket from 2.50pm BST.
In India, the games can be streamed on the Jio Cinema app and website. They are also available across the Star Sports Network.
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— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 23, 2024
Prediction
There will obviously be a large amount of focus on the toss. Should Pant call correctly, it is unlikely he will make the same mistake twice and will opt to bat.
And his batting line-up appears the stronger of the two – particularly if Fraser-McGurk can maintain his upward trajectory. Pant, too, needs a more up-tempo innings after his laboured efforts against Sunrisers.
The Titans will attempt to slow down their hosts with spin. Rashid Khan and Ahmad are the obvious threats and it will be intriguing to see how Kishore is used following his exploits last time out. Surely it’s time he’s given a greater role by Gill.
It promises to be a closely fought encounter but we’re backing the Capitals to get it done and ease the pressure on Pant.
