Hardik Pandya came back into the side and played a brilliant knock, scoring 67, while all the bowlers chipped in with crucial wickets against KKR, to help register an 8-run win on Saturday at the DY Patil Stadium.
The game ebbed and flowed, with Andre Russell threatening to win it single-handedly as he batted in his usual manner, before young Alzarri Joseph's superb final over won it for Gujarat. Russell had also taken 4 wickets in the final over the first innings, and had a chance to wrap things up in the final over of the game as well, before being dismissed.
Batting first, the Gujarat Titans, with Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill at the top of the order, did not get off to a good start. Gill, who has been in good form so far this season, was caught behind down the legside for 7 off Tim Southee.
KKR had the early breakthrough, but it was Hardik Pandya walking into bat at number 3, looking to make good use of the powerplay. While Saha found scoring freely a little difficult, Pandya at the other end was picking up pace as the innings progressed. The duo managed to take Gujarat to 47 after the end of the powerplay.
Right after, Hardik attacked Mavi and picked off 14 from the over, before KKR managed to tie it down a little in the next few overs, with two overs not producing a boundary, 9th and 10th. Saha tried to break free in the next with Umesh Yadav in the attack, but after hitting a boundary, was caught at point and walked back for 25 off 25. The duo put on a 75-run stand off 56 balls, to set it up for the big finish.
In walked David Miller and started off with a six as Hardik completed his fifty, and soon enough both were ensuring the scorers would keep quite busy. At the 15 overs mark, Titans were 127/2, with both Miller and Hardik well set and playing with a fair amount of composure.
Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya celebrates a fifty.
Image: BCCI
Mavi bounced back at the start of the 17th over, his 3rd, and dismissed Miller for 27 off 20. Miller tried to get on top of the ball and whack it away but the extra bounce caught the leading edge and looped up. The duo put on 50 off 35 deliveries. Mavi finished the over well, conceding only 5, slowing down the Titans.
Southee struck for KKR in the next over as well, removing the dangerous Hardik, caught by Rinku Singh at deep square leg for 67 off 49 deliveries. The Titans skipper hit two sixes and four boundaries, giving the side some momentum. The Kiwi bowler wasn’t done yet, and packed off Rashid Khan for a duck, finishing his spell with figures of 3/24.
Rahul Tewatia and Abhinav Manohar dragged Gujarat over the 150-mark in the 19th and then Andre Russell removed the right hander in the final over. Russell also got Lockie Ferguson for a golden duck. Russell also dismissed Tewatia for 17 and then finished off the innings with Yash Dayal’s wicket. Russell picked 4 wickets in the final over as the Titans finished with 156/9.
In response, KKR had a horror start with the top order falling away quite early in the powerplay. Sam Billings started off with a cracking boundary before he and Sunil Narine became Mohammed Shami’s first two wickets, for 4 and 5, respectively, caught looking to up the ante.
Shreyas Iyer and Nitish Rana had to steady the ship but the southpaw found Lockie Ferguson too hot to handle, and was caught behind for 2 in the fifth over, leaving KKR in a spot of bother at 16/3. Shreyas and Rinku Singh got into the act, ending the powerplay with a six each in the last two overs of the first phase.
However, right after left arm pacer Yash Dayal struck, and had Shreyas caught behind by Saha, who claimed his third catch. Shreyas, who was feeling the pressure got 12 off 15 before departing, with KKR at 34/4 and with quite a bit to do.
Rinku decided to take the attack to the bowlers in the next couple of overs, picking off crucial boundaries against Ferguson. Venkatesh Iyer at the other end was getting his eye in, as Gujarat turned to Rashid Khan in the 9th over. The two left handers ensured the next couple of overs would not cause much harm for KKR, taking them to within 94 runs of the target.
The duo added 45 to the cause from 38 deliveries, before an eventful couple of overs. Yash Dayal struck again, removing Rinku for 35 before Andre Russell made the over a big one with a couple of sixes. Rashid Khan then bowled a 1-run over that included the scalp of Venkatesh for 17 off as many deliveries.
From hero on in, it would have to be all Russell, who was also losing partners quickly. Shivam Mavi failed to stick around as Rashid knocked him over for 2, picking his second wicket. Russell survived a couple of scares after that but with Umesh, started to chip away.
Russell and Umesh solved the problem of sixes and ran hard between the wickets, giving Dayal and Ferguson a fair amount of trouble in the slog overs. In the final over, Russell was facing Alzarri Joseph, and needed 18 to win it. Russell smoked the first into the stands and tried the same with the next, but Ferguson took a brilliant catch at fine leg. Russell walked back for 48 off 25 as Joseph bounced back.
Umesh and Southee threw their bats at everything for the rest of the over, needing 9 off 2 at one point, which is when Joseph’s perfect bouncer clinched it off the penultimate delivery. Gujarat eventually picked up the points, winning by 8 runs.
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