Wriddhiman Saha is stunned as David Warner gets a reprieve.© twitter
Strange things often happen in cricket, just as in life. One such thing happened in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 game between Delhi Capitals and Gujarat Titans at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi on Tuesday. Batting first, hosts Delhi Capitals notched a fighting 162/8 in 20 overs with their skipper David Warner (37) top-scoring. However, Warner got lucky once on the first legal ball of the match itself after GT had opted to bowl. A delivery from Shami brushed Warner’s off-stump, but the bails did not light up or move as the Australian got a reprieve. GT wicketkeeper Wriddhiman was left stunned.
Watch: Saha Stunned As David Warner Survives Despite Ball Hitting Stumps
— Guess Karo (@KuchNahiUkhada) April 4, 2023
Talking about the game, Delhi Capitals top-order’s struggles against genuine quick bowling worsened as the home team managed a below-par 162 for eight against Gujarat Titans on a spicy Feroz Shah Kotla track in the IPL on Tuesday. Had Axar Patel (36 off 22 balls) not used his long handle to good effect, even 150 would have looked a distant reality for DC.
Mohammed Shami (3/41 in 4 overs) and Alzarri Joseph (2/29 in 4 overs) intimidated the top-order in the first 10 while Rashid Khan (3/31 in 4 overs) hardly faced any trouble while keeping the batters under check for the better part of the innings.
Just a month after Kotla produced a turner for the Test against Australia, the change in nature of the track was palpable as the balls literally flew off the surface. At times, it felt that it wasn’t David Warner (37 off 32 balls) or a Sarafaraz Khan’s (30 off 33 balls) bat that hit the ball but the other way round.
Shami literally beat Warner’s bat for fun in his first two overs, often cutting him into half while Alzarri twice forced umpires to call for concussion checks as Sarfaraz and Abhishek Porel (20 off 11 balls) were hit on the head by well-directed bouncers. To be fair, both looked dazed.
Even an international like Rilee Rossouw (0) got a Test match like bouncer first up and was snapped brilliantly at backward point by a diving Rahul Tewatia.
With PTI inputs
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