Ishant Sharma of Delhi Capitals celebrates snapping up Vijay Shankar of Gujarat Titans in the 2023 Indian Premier League match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday. (Express photo by Nirmal Harindran) Defending 130 against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, the Delhi Capitals needed early wickets to push the game in their favor. And wickets they got as Ishant Sharma, Anrich Nortje and Khaleel Ahmed struck in the powerplay to reduce the hosts to 26/3 after five overs.
The last of the three dismissals, a peach of a knuckle ball delivery from Ishant Sharma coming over the wicket to right-handed Vijay Shankar, who was completely bamboozled as the ball clicked the stumps behind him. Looking for a flick, Shankar would miss the ball altogether as the ball crashed into the middle and off stump.
The seam position until the load-up was the standard one, the index and middle fingers wrapped straight over the seam and the ring finger under the ball.
Deception at its best! 👊🏻
What a ball that from @ImIshant 🔥🔥#GT have lost four wickets now and this is turning out to be a tricky chase!
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/VQGP7wSZAj #TATAIPL | #GTvDC pic.twitter.com/j7IlC7vf0X
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 2, 2023
“Okay, Ishant just bowled the best knuckle ball wicket I’ve ever seen,” wrote SRH fast bowling coach Dale Steyn on Twitter.
It was a fifth scalp for Ishant in his fourth match this season. The 34-year-old made a comeback in IPL after more than 700 days this season.
Earlier in the game, Ishant’s long time fast bowling partner in the Indian team, Mohammed Shami wreaked havoc as he nabbed four wickets, running through Delhi’s top order as the visitors bundled out for 130/8 in their quota of 20 overs.
With his 4-fer, Shami now sits atop the wicket taking tally this season with 17 scalps in nine matches.
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