Cricket can be cruel and players have often been let down by its unpredictability. Ask Mitchell Starc and he will testify.
The Delhi Capitals fast bowler had scripted their victory against Rajasthan Royals in their last match by successfully defending nine runs in the final over and then sending down an economical Super Over.
Things changed dramatically on a sultry Ahmedabad wicket on Saturday afternoon as Gujarat Titans’ Rahul Tewatia smashed Starc’s first two deliveries for a six and four to pull off a seven-wicket victory with four balls remaining.
The Australian finished with an economy of 14.70 in his 3.2 overs.
Jos Buttler remained stranded on 97 off 54 balls, but that hardly mattered in the end as they successfully chased down the 204-run target. For the Capitals, it was their second loss in seven matches.
Superb strokeplay
The early loss of Shubman Gill and then Sai Sudarshan in the eighth over made no impact since Buttler was in fine touch from the outset. He added 119 runs off 69 balls with Sherfane Rutherford to put the Capitals out of the contest in the middle overs.
Rutherford was initially struggling at 11 off 13, but then managed to get the better of the Titans bowlers. Two slower bouncers off Mohit Sharma were pulled for sixes.
Buttler completed his fifty off 30 balls as he whipped Vipraj Nigam’s googly for a six. There was no stopping him once he got used to the conditions.
No reverse swing
The Capitals had saved an over from Kuldeep Yadav and brought in Starc for the 15th, but the change of angles was of no help. He conceded 20 runs and thereafter, the Titans needed just 46 off 30 balls.
In the final over, Starc went for the wide yorker off the first ball but bowled a half-volley and Tewatia slog swept over midwicket for six. He got the yorker next ball, but a thick edge resulted in the ball reaching the fine-leg fence.
There was no reverse swing on offer and the pacers struggled as a result on a docile wicket. It was not to be Starc’s day as Sai had hammered him for three boundaries early in the Powerplay to set the momentum for the Titans.
Batters’ failure
Delhi’s Karun Nair, KL Rahul, Axar Patel and Ashutosh Sharma failed to build on their starts. The Titans used only five bowlers for 19 overs of the innings. Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna, who took four wickets, pulled them back into the game.
Ishant Sharma struggled in the heat but was one of the Titans’ stand-out bowlers.
The Capitals left out Jake Fraser-McGurk and went in with the new opening combination of Abhisek Porel and Nair. Porel fell to a full toss from Arshad Khan, but Rahul kept them ticking.
Rahul’s start was encouraging but a yorker from Prasidh trapped him lbw for 28 off 14 balls.
Nair, too, got two boundaries and two sixes off 18 balls but was out in a relatively soft manner. Axar couldn’t hit a boundary in his last nine balls and the desperation got to him as he was dismissed for 39 off 32 balls.
Ashutosh provided the impetus in the final overs with 37 off 19 balls, which included three sixes. Tristan Stubbs made 31 off 21 balls.