Pune: Shubman Gill outstanding 84 and Lockie Ferguson's blistering four-wicket haul helped Gujarat Titans pull off a fantastic victory against Delhi capitals by 14 runs here on Saturday.
Gill's knock would have gone in vain, but Ferguson's searing spells packed off Gujarat to register their second consecutive win, only the third successful defence in this IPL.
Delhi looked to cross the line on two occasions, but Ferguson had other ideas. He bagged two wickets each in as many overs to stifle Delhi's chase with figures of 4 for 28.
Ferguson removed Rishabh Pant 43 off 29), Prithvi Shaw (10 off 7), Axar Patel (8) and Mandeep Singh 18 off 16) with his short-pitched stuff.
Gill was merciless against Delhi spinners, as he thumped Patel and Kuldeep Yadav (1 for 32) all over the park, pilfering 45 off 21 balls, when they brilliantly controlled things in middle overs. He had a strike rate which was not suited for an opener who gets ample time at the crease to study the situation and conditions, but this was arguably his best T20 innings as the intent was spot on.
The 22-year-old showed his intentions early with a slog-swept six off Patel. Put into bat, Gill powered Gujarat to 171/6 with his 84 runs knock. The languid opener started off nicely against Mustafizur Rahman and Shardul Thakur, by punching them for boundaries early on.
Though Mathhew Wade (1) and Vijay Shankar (13) lost their wickets cheaply, Gill kept the runs ticking for Gujarat.
Skipper Hardik Pandya joined him and both put on 65 runs partnership for the third wicket. It took 32 balls for Gill to get to his fifty compared to 48 runs scored at the other 46 balls, which is a good pace at which the Indian opener batted.
Khaleel Ahmed managed to get rid of Pandya for 31 off 26, but Gill continued with his style of cricket. He added 36 off 14 balls after getting to his half-century.
Khaleel got Gill too in the 18th over of Gujarat's innings. After his departure, Gujarat failed to accelerate. Rahul Tewatia (14 off 8) and David Miller (20 no off 15) tried their hands, but Mustafizur came out trumps against them with his cutters.
For Delhi, their bowlers did well to stymie the onslaught in the death after removing Gill.
Sent into bat, Delhi made early inroads. Kuldeep Yadav got a first-ball wicket off Shankar and Mustafizur struck in his first over to send back Wade. (UNI)
