The IPL final between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals has become one of the most attended cricket games ever, with the official number coming in at 1,04,859.
This number is not only the highest ever in the history of an IPL game, but also in the history of white-ball cricket. This is indeed a momentous occasion, and one for the history books.
The last match between RCB and RR saw the attendance of around 85,000.
As far as the final is concerned, Rajasthan Royals won the toss and opted to bat first. Batting first, the Royals couldn't really get going as they kept on losing wickets at regular intervals. Hardik Pandya was the star with the ball as he sent the big fish Buttler, skipper Sanju, and hard-hitting Hetmyer packing.
Rashid Khan too, was great with the ball in hand. The spin-master bowled 4 overs and gave away just 18 runs at a magnificent economy of 4.20. The passage of play where Hardik and Rashid bowled in tandem sucked the life out of RR's innings.
At the 15th over mark, when both Pandya and Rashid were done with their quota of overs, Hardik brought in another spinner - Sai Kishore, who has been really difficult to get away this season for most batters.
Whenever Rajasthan Royals tried to stage a comeback, Pandya had a trump card up his sleeve. Whether it was him, Rashid, Ferguson, or Sai Kishore, he just didn't give RR a chance.
Fair to say, Hardik Pandya, the captain proved to be RR's worst nemesis.
Gujarat Titans Playing XI
Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami
Rajasthan Royals Playing XI
Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson(w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal
