IPL 2022: Ferguson & Shubman Star as Gujarat Titans Win Against DC by 14 Runs
Shubman Gill top scored with 84 for the Gujarat Titans.
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Gujarat Titans scored 171/6 and Delhi Capitals got 157/9, losing by 14 runs.
Shubman Gill top scored in the game with 84 of 46 deliveries.
Lockie Ferguson took 4 wickets for Gujarat Titans while Mohammed Shami picked 2 as well.
Gujarat have won both their opening games so far in IPL 2022.
Shubman Gill started things off with a blistering knock of 84 and then Lockie Ferguson backed it up with a fiery spell that yielded 4 wicket for Gujarat Titans, who registered a comprehensive win against Delhi Capitals.
Gujarat, with Mohammed Shami, Rashid Khan and Hardik Pandya also picking wickets, to restrict Delhi to 157/9, winning by 14 runs.
Gujarat have won both their opening games.
Batting first, the Gujarat Titans got off to a bad start as they lost Australian opener Matthew Wade in the first over, caught behind by Rishabh Pant off Mustafizur Rahman. That brought Vijay Shankar to the middle to join Shubman Gill, and the duo steadied the ship, with the opener looking in fine form.
Shankar found it tough to get going and played a 20-ball 13 knock before Kuldeep Yadav cleaned him up.
Gill at the other end was looking solid and was joined by the skipper Hardik Pandya, and the batters had their task cut out. While Gill was at his most fluent, Hardik was also striking it well, but found the gaps slightly harder to find.
The captain, who is known for his explosive batting abilities, was happy to play second fiddle, as Gill drove, swept and scooped it past the keeper too with great panache.
The duo put on a crucial 65-run stand in good time, before Hardik was well caught by Rovman Powell of Khaleel Ahmed for 31 of 27 balls, having smashed four boundaries during his knock. At the other end, Gill had already got his half-century, his 11th in the IPL, of 32 balls, and was definitely eyeing a big knock – something the Titans needed him to do as well.
Shubman Gill in full flow against Delhi Capitals
Image: BCCI
After Hardik’s dismissal, Gill continued in his merry ways in the final stages of the innings, and had the big-hitting David Miller for company as they looked to finish the innings strongly.
However, the duo could only stitch together a 34-run stand, before Gill was dismissed by Khaleel for 84 of 46 deliveries. Gill was looking to smash it over long on but was caught comfortably by Axar Patel after hitting 6 boundaries and 4 sixes during his knock. It was up to Miller and the Rahul Tewatia to turn it on in the last three overs of the innings, and both took Khaleel for boundaries in a 10-run over.
The left-handers picked off 12 from Shardul’s final as he finished with figures of 0/42 with Tewatia making a dropped catch hurt a little more as he ended the over with a six. The Titans managed to add only 4 runs in the final over, as they finished with 171, a tad lesser than they seemed to be setting up for.
In response, Delhi got off to a bad start as they lost Tim Seifert in the second over for 3 when Hardik Pandya, bowling full tilt, struck with his first ball. Prithvi Shaw and Mandeep Singh struggled to get the momentum going in the next few overs. The Mumbaikar was the next to depart in the fifth over for 10 of 7 deliveries when Lockie Ferguson’s pace was too much to handle. Before the over finished, Ferguson also accounted for Mandeep for 18, leaving Delhi in a spot of bother at 34/3 in the fifth over.
New batters Rishabh Pant and Lalit Yadav had their task cut out and both would need to play well to dig Delhi out of a hole in Pune. Pant played the more aggressive role, bringing out some exquisite shots around the wicket and keeping the pressure on the bowlers, while Lalit was more than happy to feed the captain the strike and keep the momentum going from his end.
The batters put on a solid 61-run stand for the fourth wicket before the Titans got the breakthrough when Lalit was runout for 25 off 22 deliveries, having hit two boundaries and six in that time.
Rishabh Pant during his knock against Gujarat
Image: BCCI
It didn’t slow Pant down as he continued to attack the bowlers, welcoming Tewatia with a crisp shot to the fence, and looking to set it up a grandstand finish. Pant was also nearing a half-century, and Hardik immediately turned to Ferguson in search of a wicket. The pacer, who had been the pick of the bowlers for the Titans, responded immediately with a fast and short one that Pant tried to put away, but was caught by Abhinav Manohar for 43 of 29 deliveries. Pant had hit 7 boundaries in his stay, and departed with his side very much in the mix for the win.
Off the next over, Rashid Khan, in his final over, got into the act as well, trapping Shardul Thakur LBW for 2. The Titans were really tightening the screws on DC, and were setting up for a big win. Rovman Powell at the other end had threatened to take it away with a couple of big hits but was fast losing partners.
Powell had Kuldeep for company with DC needing 10 an over in the last 3 overs. But Powell’s resistance ended early in the 18th over when Mohammed Shami had him LBW for 20 of 12 balls, which brought Gujarat to within two wickets of the win. Shami sent Khaleel packing off the next ball, caught behind and was on a hat-trick with one wicket to go. There was no hat-trick as Mustafizur negotiated the attempted yorker.
Kuldeep and Mustafizur then delayed the inevitable and played out the overs, bringing the margin of defeat down to 14 runs.
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