Practising wide yorkers paid off, says Ishant Sharma after last over heroics against GT

The narrow five-run win on Tuesday kept Delhi alive in the tournament. It now has three victories from nine games and needs to win its remaining five matches to make the playoffs.

Delhi Capitals pacer Ishant Sharma celebrates the dismissal of Gujarat Titans batter Rahul Tewatia during the IPL match in Ahmedabad on May 2, 2023. 

Veteran Ishant Sharma said practising wide yorkers paid off in the middle after he defended 12 runs off the last over to hand Delhi Capitals a morale-boosting win over the formidable Gujarat Giants in the IPL.

The narrow five-run win on Tuesday kept Delhi alive in the tournament. It now has three victories from nine games and needs to win its remaining five matches to make the playoffs. Ishant, who was not used in the initial part of the tournament, is now Delhi’s most economical bowler and has taken six wickets in four games conceding only 6.5 runs per over.

The 105 Test veteran was able to keep the dangerous Rahul Tewatia quiet in the 20th over with GT skipper Hardik Pandya remaining unbeaten at the other end in a losing cause.

“We practice bowling with the new ball, but at the same time we do practice bowling wide yorkers, and today the hardwork paid off, I just backed myself and bowled wide yorkers.

“When you are preparing yourself in the nets we plan for certain batters as to what to bowl and it is all about executing it every single time, back yourself and believing in yourself,” Ishant said after the game.

Asked about his mindset while bowling to Tewatia, who had smashed three sixes off Anrich Nortje in the previous over, Ishant said: “I played enough cricket with him (Tewatia), so was just having fun with him. I knew I had to double bluff him otherwise we know what he can do with the bat.

“We (bowlers) don’t think about the target, it is just about executing the plans. From hereon we hope to carry the momentum, keep going forward and hope for the best,” he added.