The seventh game of the ongoing 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) saw a spectacular start as Delhi Capitals welcomed the defending champion Gujarat Titans to the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi. The opening ball of the contest saw GT pacer Mohammad Shami threaten DC opener and captain David Warner, but the Aussies had to thank their stars as the team was dismissed early in the critical game.
Following the refusal to remove the wickets, David Warner congratulated his teammates.
At the Ekana Stadium last week, Delhi Capitals lost to Lucknow Super Giants by a score of 50 runs in their season debut. So, the homecoming game is crucial for the Capitals since DC hopes to debut in the IPL in 2023.
Warner entered the game with the intention of laying the groundwork necessary for the rest of the DC lineup to build on it and post a significant total. But Shami caught him off guard right on when GT made a strong appeal on the game’s first ball. When the ball edged out of a Fuller delivery around off and into the hands of wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, there was a huge uproar.
There were discussions among the players, but GT captain Hardik Pandya decided against asking his teammates for a review because he did not receive a solid response. But everyone, including the pundits, acknowledged the noise. Later replays revealed that the ball had really struck Warner’s off-stump rather than the outside of his bat, leaving Saha and Shami in shock.
The Gujarat players then immediately raised a vociferous objection to Shami’s delivery from the back of the length. Saha caught a lot of fish by diving. But Hardik did not receive a definite response from his teammates, therefore he did not choose DRS. Two balls later, a length ball from Shami sailed over Warner’s thigh pads but luckily found the boundary. The next ball was a big wide that sailed past a diving Saha and into the boundary. In that over, 11 runs were scored.