New Delhi, April 9 (IANS) Former India leg-spinner Piyush Chawla hailed Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan’s precision and deception on his way to bagging figures of 3-17 for the Gujarat Titans in their one-run win over Delhi Capitals in IPL 2026, adding that his dismissal of Sameer Rizvi was a standout one.

At the Arun Jaitley Stadium, Rashid was at his accurate best to take out Rizvi, Nitish Rana, and Axar Patel to leave DC in trouble in chase of 211. David Miller, despite an injured left hand, counter-attacked with an unbeaten 41, but Prasidh Krishna defended 13 runs in the final over, including two runs off two balls, to give a nail-biting win for GT.

“We all know what Rashid Khan is capable of on his day; he can trouble any batting line-up. Gujarat Titans needed him to step up, especially while defending this total on a good batting wicket and a small ground, and he delivered.

“He was right on the money from the very first ball. The way he dismissed Sameer Rizvi was particularly impressive. He bowled several leg-spinners earlier, and when Rizvi walked in, a batter with strong numbers against spin this season, he showed him the slip, making him expect a leg-break.

“But deceived him with the wrong’ un. It was a beautiful delivery, right on target, beating the bat through the gap,” said Chawla, a JioStar expert, on Star Sports.

He also pointed to KL Rahul’s magnificent 92 as a key factor in keeping DC in the hunt, before the game slipped out of their hands. “At that stage, those runs were crucial, and KL Rahul ensured the required rate never went completely out of reach for Delhi Capitals.

“He started steadily, around 26 off his first 20 balls, but then accelerated well. Having played such an innings, he would probably be disappointed with himself because when you bat like that, you want to finish the game for your team. Unfortunately for him, that didn’t happen,” added Chawla.

--IANS

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