When Hardik Pandya won the toss, he had no hesitation in putting Delhi Capitals in to bat.
And he was vindicated by his bowlers who gave Gujarat Titans a dream start.
Mohammad Shami started poorly but in the third over he had Prithvi Shaw getting out to a short one, miscuing a pull to mid-on. An over later, Shami returned to take another wicket with Mitchell Marsh chopping the ball on to his stumps.
Alzarri Joseph then broke the budding partnership between DC Captain David Warner and youngster Sarfaraz Khan, with the former inside edging the ball on to his stumps. Joseph then had Riley Rossouw caught at backward point.
With four wickets down and despite some lethal bowling from Joseph, Abishek Porel and Sarfaraz staged a mini-fightback. But Rashid, introduced in the 13th over, nipped that partnership in the bud before it could flourish by having Porel bowled for 20.
Three overs later, he ended Sarfaraz's sorry knock of 30 off 34 balls before the task got too much for Axar who made 28 off 18 and helped take DC to 162 for 8.
Those early wickets from Shami and Joseph, and some tight bowling and wickets by Rashid in the middle, didn't allow DC to go big or build worthwhile partnerships, leading to their undoing.
Chasing 163 for victory, Gujarat got off to a shaky start losing three early wickets.
But some common sense batting and partnership building from No 3 bat Sai Sudharsan ensured GT victory. Sudharsan's half-century (62 off 48) and batting display has given Ashish Nehra and the GT management an asset to keep.
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