IPL 2022, GT vs LSG, Match 04, Top Performances: Md Shami, Rahul Tewatia help Gujarat Titans (GT) beat Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Brief Scores: GT 161/5 (Tewatia 40*, Hardik Pandya 33, Miller 30, Chameera 22/2) beat LSG 158/6 (Hooda 55, Badoni 54, Shami 25/3) by five wickets
Gujarat Titans (GT) and Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) were at loggerheads with each other while playing their debut match in IPL 2022 at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
KL Rahul-led LSG is a star-studded unit with a host of popular players like Quinton de Kock, Manish Pandey, Evin Lewis, Krunal Pandya and Dushmantha Chameera. The Gujarat franchise made Hardik Pandya their leader in this season of IPL and have players like Shubman Gill, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, David Miller and Mohammed Shami in their eleven.
Gujarat Titans kick off their IPL campaign with a win
Titans skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field first. Gujarat bowlers proved his decision right by taking four wickets in the first five overs. Shami bagged three top-order wickets to leave LSG in a miserable condition of 29 for four.
However, middle-order batters Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni rescued their side with individual half-centuries. All-rounder Krunal Pandya provided quickfire finishing to help Lucknow reach 158/6 in 20 overs.
While chasing a moderate target of 159 runs, Titans lost two quick wickets due to the lethal bowling of Chameera in the beginning of the second innings. However, blistering knocks by Hardik Pandya, David Miller and Tewatia catapulted their side home as Titans won by five wickets.
Let’s take a look at the top performances of the game which impacted the result in the eventuality.
Mohammed Shami breathes fire in the powerplay; snaps three wickets in initial spell
Mohammed Shami produced an unplayable delivery on the first ball of the match to leave KL Rahul stunned. The threatening delivery took the edge of the bat and went straight into the gloves of wicketkeeper Matthew Wade. This is only the first time Shami bagged the wicket of Rahul in IPL.
Second opener Quinton de Kock had so far amassed 37 runs off 21 deliveries against Shami in IPL prior to this game, but lost his wicket for the third time to the same bowler in four encounters. Shami produced a jaw-dropping delivery to knock down the stumps de Kock. Quinton made only 7 runs off nine deliveries.
New ball partner of Shami, Varun Aaron also cleaned up next batter Evin Lewis on just 10.
In the next over, Shami bowled a sharp delivery to shatter the stumps of Manish Pandey which left Lucknow Super Giants struggling at 29 for four in the first five overs. Shami had dismissed Manish once in IPL prior to this encounter conceding only 34 runs off 36 deliveries. The menacing pace bowling spell by Shami read 10/3 inside the powerplay overs.
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Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni rescue their side
As Lucknow were in a precarious position after losing their top four wickets, youngsters Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni bailed out their side by adding 87 runs for the fifth wicket in the middle overs.
Hooda, who was part of Punjab Kings last year, played a vital knock in his debut for Lucknow. He pummelled two boundaries off pacer Hardik Pandya and also smashed two boundaries and a gigantic six off pacer Varun Aaron to garner 17 runs in an over. Hooda completed his fifty in 36 deliveries.
Talented Delhi youngster Ayush Badoni played second fiddle to Hooda till the latter completed his half-century. The debutant batter smoked a humongous six over cow corner and two boundaries in an over of Hardik Pandya. Badoni launched a mammoth six off speedster Lockie Ferguson to complete his first half-century from just 38 deliveries.
Badoni came in the limelight by playing a swashbuckling knock of 52 runs off 28 deliveries for India’s Under-19 team against Sri Lanka in the U-19 Asia Cup in 2018. He was signed by Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022 auction for his base price of INR 20 Lakhs.
Read More: IPL 2022, MI vs DC, Top Performances: Axar aces chase for DC with 38*(17); Kuldeep shines with 3-18
Rahul Tewatia finishes off in style with a busy 40*(24)
When Gujarat Titans lost two wickets in quick succession, they still required to score 81 runs off 49 deliveries after losing the top four wickets. However, designated finisher Rahul Tewatia took responsibility upon himself to help his side cross the finishing line.
Tewatia batted sensibly in the first few overs, though he cleverly launched an attack on part-time bowling option Hooda to collect a staggering 22 runs in an over along with his partner David Miller. Also, he didn’t budge while smacking intimidating leggie Ravi Bishnoi to the boundary rope with a fabulous reverse hit.
Even as Miller lost his wicket on a personal score of 30 when the win was in sight, Tewatia kept his cool and helped his side to win the match in the ultimate over by smashing a boundary off Avesh Khan.
Karnataka youngster Abhinav Manohar deserves a special mention as he smashed two back-to-back boundaries in the final over to help their side close the game. Gujarat shelled out a whopping INR 2.6 crores for Abhinav in IPL 2022 auction due to his phenomenal knocks for the Karnataka team in just a four-game career so far.
What’s to come
Sanju Samson-led Rajasthan Royals (RR) will take on Kane Williamson-led Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune on March 29. The game kicks off at 19:30 hours IST.
Read More: IPL 2022, CSK vs KKR, Top Performances: Rahane’s 44, Umesh’s 2-20 trump Dhoni’s 50*
