NE SPORTS BUREAU
AHMEDABAD, APR 19
Thanks to Jos Buttler’s unbeaten 97, Gujarat Titans moved to the top of the table in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) with an authoritative seven-wicket victory over Delhi Capitals at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Saturday.
Ruthless Rutherford
pic.twitter.com/by3l3d8utW
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 19, 2025
After the impressive Prasidh Krishna-led (4/41) Gujarat pacers limited Delhi to 203/8, the home side paced their chase impeccably to reach 204/3 in 19.2 overs as Buttler played the protagonist during his 54-ball innings.
- Fighting cramps, Jos Buttler powers Gujarat’s chase after Prasidh Krishna’s fiery spell tames Delhi in high-octane thriller
- The win also helped the Titans move to the top of the table with 10 points—just like Delhi, but with a better net run rate of 0.98 against Delhi’s 0.58.
The Titans had, however, faced a few hiccups at the beginning, with the early dismissals of skipper Shubhman Gill and B. Sai Sudharsan (36), who helped Buttler add 60 runs for the second wicket. However, Buttler nonchalantly batted around them in the company of Rutherford (43) until the left-hander was dismissed in the penultimate over. The English-West Indian pair milked 119 runs for the third wicket that pushed GT closer to the shore.
Jos Buttler toyed with Starc’s yorkers, backing away and smearing the off side with four consecutive fours before pulling a short one to make it five boundaries in a row. That 20-run over left Gujarat needing just 46 runs from the last five overs.
Buttler’s batting was aesthetically violent, as he managed to exploit a pitch on which the ball came fluently onto the bat. The Somerset man has all the shots in the book but plays them in the best of ways. Instead of moving around the crease like modern T20 batters, Buttler often relies on a strong core and quick hands to unfurl his shots.
On the other hand, Rutherford’s batting was all about brute power, as he showed while pulling pacer Mohit Sharma for two consecutive sixes.
The match did not end with a popular ‘Buttler hundred’, as Rahul Tewatia finished it off with a six and a four off Starc, with four balls to spare.
The win also helped the Titans move to the top of the table with 10 points—just like Delhi, but with a better net run rate of 0.98 against Delhi’s 0.58.
Earlier, Gujarat’s bowlers, led by Prasidh, produced a disciplined effort to stifle the Delhi batting unit. It started from the top-order. Abhishek Porel (23) started well, hammering pacer Mohammed Siraj for 16 runs in the first over. The barrage included two fours and a six, and he looked set for a bigger score. However, he perished in the next over to Arshad Khan, clubbing his over-pitched delivery straight to Siraj at the mid-on.
KL Rahul (28, 14b) and Karun Nair (31, 18b) added 35 runs for the second wicket and played some delectable shots. Rahul’s six-over long-on (off Siraj) and Karun’s pick-up flick for a six (off Arshad) were simply wonderful. Still, Prasidh trapped his Karnataka teammate Rahul with a searing yorker that pinged his back foot to break the promising alliance. Karun tried to ramp Prasidh, but Arshad took an easy catch at the wide third man, as DC slipped to 93 for three, despite consuming only nine overs.
The visitors then weaved another good stand of 53 runs through Tristan Stubbs (31) and Axar Patel (39) for the fifth wicket.
Stubbs’ cover drives off Prasidh that raced to the fence testified his grace and power. Just as the South African—who was dropped on 30 by Rashid Khan off his own bowling—was gaining in confidence, he chose to play a reverse paddle off Siraj, only to be caught by Prasidh at the short third man. The Karnataka pacer returned to get rid of Axar as he continued to dig the ball into the pitch to get some bounce and grip, in order to keep the batters guessing. Ashutosh Sharma (37, 19b) also played some beefy shots as they crossed the 200-run mark.
