Young Indian batsmen’s inept technique against top quality fast bowling compounded Delhi Capitals’ concerns as they succumbed to an embarrassing six-wicket defeat at the hands of defending champions Gujarat Titans in an IPL match in New Delhi on Tuesday. Mohammed Shami (3/41 in 4 overs) and Alzarri Joseph (2/29 in 4 overs) intimidated the Delhi top-order in the first 10 overs while Rashid Khan (3/31 in 4 overs) had little trouble keeping the batters down control to keep the home side down to an under-par 162 for 8. Despite the best efforts of Anrich Nortje (2/39 in 4 overs) young Sai Sudharsan (62 not off 48 balls) calmly anchored the chase with Titans winning their second consecutive game in 18. 1 overs.
David Miller’s (31 off 16 balls) two sixes and four off Mukesh Kumar in the 16th near the end decisively sealed DC’s fate.
Axar Patel (36 for 22) was DC’s saving grace with bat, but since left-handers were batting, David Warner couldn’t give him a single because the match-up wasn’t compatible.
DC has now lost two games on the trot and while it is still early in the tournament, it will be surprising if this team, with the kind of Indian talent it has, finishes in the top five let alone a title contender. The cabinet in terms of both Indian batting and bowling talent looks bare and inadequate as it competes with the best in the industry.
Had Axar not used its long handle to good effect, even 150 would have seemed a distant reality to DC.
Just a month after Kotla produced a gymnast for the Test against Australia, the change in the nature of the court was felt as the balls literally flew off the surface.
Sometimes it felt like it wasn’t David Warner (37 off 32 balls) or Sarafaraz Khan’s (30 off 33 balls) bat hitting the ball, but the other way around.
Shami literally beat Warner’s bat for fun in his first two overs, often cutting it in half, while Alzarri twice forced umpires to get a concussion check when Sarfaraz and Abhishek Porel (20 off 11 balls) were hit on the head by good targeted bouncers. To be fair, they both looked dazed.
Even an international like Rilee Rossouw (0) got a test match first as a bouncer and was brilliantly broken down on a back point by a diving Rahul Tewatia.
Not being able to avoid the short ball was more down to a lack of technique and not regularly facing bowlers of Shami or Alzarri’s quality became their downfall.
A heavy goalscorer in domestic cricket, Sarfaraz was unable to improvise as he found the pace too fast to maneuver or improvise his shot selection.
The first two matches in IPL against international bowlers are a testament to why former chairman Chetan Sharma’s committee or even the current quartet of selectors are wary of choosing him for international assignments. A good domestic player, who is out of depth against first class bowlers.
And it’s not just Sarfaraz. Not even Prithvi Shaw inspires confidence when facing a bowler of Shami’s caliber.
Shaw’s (7) inept technique against fast-rising deliveries was once again exposed by the seasoned Shami, who threw a backlog at a decent pace. The pitch continued to climb onto Shaw as he hit an overhead pull shot that was cheerfully accepted by Alazarri halfway through.
Mitchell Marsh was bowled for a second time, this time playing Shami’s bowling as skipper Hardik Pandya very wisely gave him a third over within the Powerplay and the job was done.
Skipper Warner, who literally played and missed during the first few overs, still used his experience to ride the pace before Alzarri got rid of him.
As Gujarat chased, Nortje Wriddhiman hit Saha with a deadly off-cutter and another quick pitch that moved enough to knock back Shubman Gill’s off-stump. DC had some hope as Khaleel Ahmed Hardik trailed Pandya, but Sudharsan and Vijay Shankar (29) added 53 from 7.2 overs to keep the chase on track. Miller then added the finishing touches.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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