 "Delhi Capitals picked up their first win of the IPL season, beating CSK by 20 runs. AP")
Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals picked up wins in the Indian Premier League (IPL) against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings respectively on 31 March (Sunday). With the wins in Ahmedabad and Visakhapatnam (Delhi’s home for now), the home teams have won 12 of 13 matches in the IPL this season. The only blip coming when Royal Challengers Bengaluru lost to Kolkata Knight Riders at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Friday.
With the win, their second of the season, GT moved to fourth in the points table with four points - same as KKR, CSK and Rajasthan Royals but with a significantly poorer net run rate. DC, meanwhile, climbed to seventh in the standings with their first win - their first over Chennai since 2021.
SRH won the toss and opted to bat. None of the Hyderabad batters scored big but what they did do was score consistently and as a bunch. Abhishek Sharma joint top-scored with 29 from 20 balls alongside Abdul Samad who took 14 balls. Heinrich Klaasen, coming off heroics against Mumbai Indians , produced 24 off 13 balls this time as SRH mustered 162/8.
The credit for stifling a team that had broken records with 277 runs last time around goes to Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma and former SRH spinner Rashid Khan.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsGujarat Titans comfortably chased the target down in Ahmedabad at the loss of three wickets and with five balls to spare. With the surface getting better in the evening, GT breached the winning line with contributions from Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan and David Miller.
DC vs CSKRishabh Pant led from the front with his first IPL fifty since his comeback from a horror car crash as Delhi Capitals beat Chennai Super Kings by 20 runs on Sunday.
DC captain Rishabh Pant led from the front to hit his first IPL fifty since his comeback from a horror car crash in December 2022. Pant struck 51 off 32 balls after fellow left-hander David Warner smashed 52 and helped DC to 191/5 in Visakhapatnam — their adopted home.
But, just as DC had the game sealed and CSK looked well out of it, MS Dhoni (and Visakhapatnam) came alive with chants of “Dhoni, Dhoni”. The former Chennai Super Kings skipper slammed an unbeaten 37 off 16 balls, including four fours and three sixes.
Earlier, Delhi had restricted Chennai to 171/6 for their first win of the season and hand their opponents their first loss.
Khaleel Ahmed returned with bowling figures of 2/21 to be named Player of the Match and Mukesh Kumar took three wickets.
Also of note from the fixture was return of Prithvi Shaw , who hit 43, and stitched an opening wicket stand of 93 runs alongside Warner.
In a moment to remember, Matheesha Pathirana took a stunning one-handed catch behind the stumps off an attempted reverse scoop from Warner.