Captain Hardik Pandya’s all-round heroism propelled Gujarat Titans to the top of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 points table as GT thrashed Rajasthan Royals by 37 runs to register their fourth win of the season in Mumbai on Thursday.
Hardik scored an unbeaten 87 with the bat, ran out opposition skipper Sanju Samson with a sharp throw and then took the wicket of James Neesham with the ball. Lockie Ferguson (3/23) and Yash Dayal (3/40) acted with the ball, and returned with three wickets each to prop up Rajasthan’s chase after an entertaining half-century from Jos Buttler.
ferguson magic
Ferguson dismissed the in-form Butler, who was deceived after a series of quick deliveries by a slow yorker from the fast bowlers. Ferguson also dismissed Ravichandran Ashwin in the same over when the senior India spinner was promoted to bat at number three. Another notable contribution to the Royals’ innings was Shimron Hetmyer (29 off 17). From 56 for one, the Royals slipped to 90 for five and could not recover from there.
Hardik, who bowled regularly this season, also picked up a wicket but withdrew himself from the attack in the 18th over after feeling some discomfort in the groin area. With their fourth win in five matches, the Titans removed the Royals from the top of the points table. This is the second defeat for the Royals in five matches.
butler dazzle
Jos Buttler expressed his intentions to chase down Rajasthan in a dynamic fashion as he dismissed Mohammed Shami for three back-to-back boundaries in the very first over when Gujarat Titans ruined a review off the first ball. Buttler continued his attack on debut and smashed Yash Dayal for two fours and a six before fellow opener Devdutt Padikkal failed to open his account in the same over. Butler scored a quick 54 before he was cast by Lockie Ferguson.
warm lead
Captain Hardik Pandya led from the front and scored an amusing 87* to take Gujarat Titans to 192 for four after Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson batted in. Hardik along with Abhinav Manohar (43) rebuilt Gujarat. The duo shared an 86-run partnership for the fourth wicket and the captain, along with David Miller, added 53 runs in 25 balls.
Hardik’s 52-ball innings hit eight fours and four sixes. Hardik attacked Kuldeep Sen as he smashed the RR pacer for three consecutive boundaries in the fifth over. He then achieved his first maximum in the seventh over when he caught Riyan Parag on his head.
Manohar, Miller Sizzle
When Manohar begins to inform Yuzvendra Chahal, the two strike a boundary and maximum, a high inside-out drive over cover. The duo then hit three fours in the 14th over against Kuldeep, where Hardik also completed his half-century with a cut towards the backward point fence.
And in the next over, Pandya hit two consecutive sixes off veteran spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who conceded 16 runs in the over. The stage was set for a massive total, with Titans reaching 130/3 in 15 overs.
Gujarat stutter
Both the teams made changes in their playing XI on Thursday. Trent Boult, who bowled beautifully to take 2 for 30 in his 4 overs against Lucknow Super Giants, missed due to a swallow and was replaced by Jimmy Neesham.
Meanwhile, Gujarat Titans dropped Sai Sudarshan as Vijay Shankar returned to the team. Darshan Nalkande, who gave away 22 runs in 2.1 overs in GT’s 8-wicket loss to Sunrisers Hyderabad, was dropped – Yash Dayal was given his debut.
RR must have sensed Trent Boult’s absence immediately when Neesham was hit for three boundaries by Matthew Wade in the first over. However, Wade was run out in the next over. Earlier, Gujarat Titans had a poor start as they lost opener Matthew Wade (12) cheaply, courtesy a direct hit from cover by Rasi van der Dussen. Gujarat were down 15/2 as Vijay Shekar (2) also died cheaply and then an in-form but careless Shubman Gill (13) became Parag’s first victim when he was caught by Shimron Hetmyar at the long-on fence. had gone.