Mumbai: Gujarat Titans (GT) start with a 5-wicket victory against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 campaign. The Titans batters made some valuable contributions during the death to put up a tricky run-chase with a brilliant spell from Indian pacer Mohammad Shami to scalp three early wickets.
The Lucknow Super Giants were put in to bat first. The very first delivery of the match caught Giants’ skipper KL Rahul from a peach of Mohammed Shami. Evin Lewis, the next man in, got things going with a boundary down the leg side. Constant pressure from Shami pressed Quinton de Kock into the pavilion within the powerplay. A sensational running catch from Shubman Gill to dismiss Lewis put Varun Aaron into the wicket-takers club. There was constant pressure increasing on the Super Giants as Shami claimed his third wicket to dismiss Manish Pandey in the fifth over. With a total of 32-4, LSG were struggling at the end of the powerplay.
Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni rebuilt the phase for LSG in the middle overs. Hooda played a release shot for a four off the bowling of Hardik Pandya in the 9th over. Hooda began to pace up after the 12th over. He dispatched two fours and a six against the bowling of Aaron, with a target of pushing LSG to a competitive total. Hooda bagged up a half-century in the next over, smashing an over-boundary against Rashid Khan.
Ayush Badoni hammered six and two fours against the opposition skipper as 19 runs came off the 15th over. Rashid Khan bounced back into the game with the wicket of the dangerous-looking Hooda, who went for 55. Krunal Pandya came next creamed two consecutive fours in the 18th over while Badoni gifted Shami’ the last ball flick for four. Ayush Badoni brought up his maiden half-century of IPL in style with a maximum against Lockie Ferguson. The U-19 star of team India in the 2018 Asia Cup was caught in the final over but the Super Giants ended with a competitive total of 158-6 on board in the first innings.
The Gujarat Titans had a problematic start in their attempt to chase a target of 159. They lost two early wickets to the Giants. The opener, Shubman Gill went for a duck as Deepak Hooda caught him off to Dushmantha Chameera. Dushmantha had his second wicket by pitching the delivery exactly in the block-hole to dismiss Vijay Shankar. Gujarat Titans’ skipper Hardik Pandya got off the mark to bag a four with a fascinating flick towards mid-wicket. The opener, Matthew Wade supported the skipper’s attacking display. The Gujarat Titans were 44-2 at the end of the powerplay. With a fifty partnership between Pandya and Wade, the Titans made it into 72-2 at the ten-over mark.
Krunal Pandya took Hardik in the very first delivery of the 11th over as Manish Pandey caught him in the deep off. Deepak Hooda came into the next over to remove the well-set Wade. The left-handed batter was bamboozled by the spinner’s delivery which crashed the stumps. The Lucknow Super Giants were back in momentum as the next three overs produced only 12 runs. Gujarat Titans were at 91-4 with Rahul Tewatia and David Miller at the crease. As Miller and Tewatia smashed a four and a six each Hooda conceded 22 runs.
What a game. Went down to the wire and it is the @gujarat_titans who emerge victorious in their debut game at the #TATAIPL 2022.#GTvLSG pic.twitter.com/BQxkMXc9QL
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) March 28, 2022
Rahul continued his firework as he smashed two fours and an over-boundary against Ayush. The Titans required 29 runs in 18 deliveries. Avesh Khan’s bowling caught Miller inside the circle as the Australian tried to hit straight down the ground. Abhinav Sadarangani came in to smack three valuable fours. Tewatia wrapped up the chase with a four towards the off-side as the Titans won the game with 2 balls to spare.
Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans 161/5 (Rahul Tewatia 40*, Hardik Pandya 33; Dushmantha Chameera 2-22) beat Lucknow Super Giants 158/6 (Deepak Hooda 55, Ayush Badoni 54; Mohammed Shami 3-25) by 5 wickets.
