Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya scored 87 runs in 52 balls, took an important wicket of Jimmy Neesham, and inflicted one key run-out to help his side beat Rajasthan Royals by runs in the 24th match of the IPL 2022 here at the Dr. DY Patil Stadium, Mumbai on Thursday. With his 87-run knock, Hardik Pandya also claimed the orange cap beating RR's opener Jos Buttler.
Chasing a challenging total of 193, RR never got the start as Devdutt Padikkal was removed by Yash Dayal on a golden duck in the third over of the game. Jos Buttler scored a quickfire fifty within the powerplay but Lokie Ferguson dismissed him and R Ashwin in the 6th over. Surprisingly, RR sent Ashwin at number three as a pinch-hitter.
Lockie Ferguson was the star with the ball for GT as he removed three RR batsmen in the name of Buttler, Ashwin, and Riyan Parag. Young pacer Yash Dayal also chipped in with three wickets. M Shami and Pandya also grabbed one wicket each. Rashid Khan bowled with an economy of 6 but was wicketless in the match.
For Rajasthan, other than Buttler no other batsman managed to get scores. Shimron Hetmyer tried his level best at the back end of the game but he ran out of partners at the other end.
Earlier, Pandya impressed with another responsible knock to take GT to 192 for four. Hardik (87 not out off 52) first found an able ally in Abhinav Manohar (43 off 28) before he exploded in the company of David Miller (31 not out off 14) to power the IPL debutants to their highest score of the tournament.
Hardik and Manohar shared an 86-run stand for the fourth wicket before the skipper and Miller blasted 53 off 25 balls to end the innings in style.
After put in to bat, Gujarat found themselves reeling at 53/3. While Hardik’s 52-ball knock was studded with eight fours and four sixes, Manohar struck four fours and two maximums. Miller, who overall hit five boundaries and a six, fetched 21 runs in the penultimate over off Kuldeep Sen (1/51).
To start with, Hardik was aggressive on pacer Kuldeep as he hammered him for three successive boundaries in the fifth over. He then fetched his first maximum in the seventh over, when he clobbered Riyan Parag over his head.
The duo upped the ante when Manohar launched into inform Yuzvendra Chahal, hammering him for a four and maximum, a lofted inside-out drive over cover.
The two then took on Kuldeep, hammering him for three boundaries in the 14th over, where Hardik also notched up his fifty, with a cut towards backward point fence.
And in the next over, Pandya clobbered two successive maximums off seasoned spinner Ravichandran Ashwin, who leaked 16 runs in the over.
With Titans reaching 130/3 in 15 overs, the stage was set for a big total. After Manohar departed, Miller ably supported the skipper.
In the beginning, Gujarat Titans lost opener Matthew Wade (12) cheaply, courtesy a direct hit by Rassie Van Der Dussen from cover. Gujarat slipped to 15/2, as Vijay Shakar (2) also perished cheaply and then a rusty looking Shubman Gill (13) became Parag’s first victim, after he was caught by Shimron Hetymar at the long-on fence.
