Mohammed Shami’s fiery first spell and Rahul Tewatia’s finishing act guided Gujarat Titans (GT) to a five-wicket win over the K.L. Rahul-led Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the battle of the two new teams, in Match 4 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, in Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai.
Despite a brilliant start to the match, GT were in a spot of bother when they lost Matthew Wade in the 12th over. At that point they needed 81 in 49 balls. Between the 10th and 15th overs, they scored only 19 runs and lost two wickets. The equation came down to 68 from 30.
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Then, not for the first time in the IPL, Tewatia gate-crashed his namesake K.L.’s party. He slammed 40 not out in 24 balls. With David Miller (30 in 21) also chipping in, the pair added 60 off 34 balls to seal it for Gujarat.
Lucknow Super Giants 158/6 in 20 overs
Gujarat were off to an exceptional start. From winning the toss to bossing the Powerplay, they reduced the match in Wankhede to a one-way traffic. Shami put up an exhibition of incredible skills of seam bowling. He was unplayable in his first spell, getting Rahul for a golden duck with an outswing that was angled in and bolted away.
In his next over, he hurried through Quinton de Kock’s defence. Shubman Gill pouched a brilliant running catch to send back Evin Lewis off Varun Aaron. Given an extended spell, Shami went through Manish Pandey’s defence in the fifth over, leaving Lucknow tottering at 29/4.
At this point, Deepak Hooda, who averaged 16 in IPL 2021, was joined by Ayush Badoni, a 22-year-old Delhi lad who had played just five T20s – none of them in the IPL – batting once and scoring eight. A product of the late Tarik Sinha’s Sonnet Club in Delhi, his exploits for India Under-19s did make headlines once before he disappeared into oblivion.
With Rashid Khan and Lockie Ferguson yet to bowl, the hopes for Lucknow looked bleak before Hooda and Badoni surprised with a defiant 87-run stand for the fifth wicket off 68 balls.
IPL 2022 also saw Hardik Pandya return as a bowler. Going for 18 from his first three overs, he was plundered for a six and two fours consecutively in his fourth, the 15th of the innings. Hooda ended the over with another four as the GT skipper finished with 37 runs from four overs.
Hooda (55 off 41) struck his fourth IPL fifty in his 81st match, while Badoni impressed on his debut with a 41-ball 54. Krunal Pandya gave the innings the required finish with a 13-ball unbeaten 21, taking 15 off Shami’s final over. Shami was denied his fourth wicket due to a dropped chance by Ferguson.
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Gujarat Titans 161/5 in 19.4 overs
Like his national teammate Rahul, Gill, too, started his journey with his new franchise with a duck. He fell off the third ball, off Dushmantha Chameera, when his miscued slog found Hooda. What followed was undoubtedly the moment of the match, when Krunal hugged Hooda.
The bitter history between the two is well known. Hooda had quit Baroda in 2021, citing differences with Krunal. Be it Harbhajan Singh and Andrew Symonds or Ricky Ponting, or R. Ashwin and Jos Buttler, or Gautam Gambhir and Simon Katich, IPL has united many foes.
Chameera struck again in his next over by castling Vijay Shankar with a toe-crusher at 145 kph.
Hardik (33 off 28) and Matthew Wade (30 off 29) kept GT in the hunt. After a hiatus of four and a half months, Hardik returned to competitive cricket, looking in sublime touch with the bat, playing an array of beautiful strokes.
They may have squared off a zillion times in the nets or backyard, but Pandya vs Pandya happened for the first time in competitive cricket, that too in Wankhede, their home ground at the Mumbai Indians. Hardik began watchfully against his elder sibling before slapping a four through deep mid wicket. Krunal came back strongly, invited his brother for a loft, and got him to miscue to long-off.
With two left-handers – Wade and Miller – at the crease, Rahul brought in off-spinner Hooda, who immediately struck with the former’s wicket.
Only 13 runs came from the next 19 balls, shooting the required rate to almost 14 for GT. Despite having Avesh Khan and Chameera, Rahul gambled with the spin of Hooda in the 16th over, allowing Tewatia and Miller to open their arms. Hooda went for 22, and Bishoi was taken for 17 in the following over.
GT needed 21 in 15 balls when Miller fell to Avesh, allowing the IPL audience a glimpse of the hard-hitting Abhinav Manohar, who finished it with a seven-ball 15 not out.
Brief Scores
Lucknow Super Giants 158/6 in 20 overs (Deepak Hooda 55; Mohammed Shami 3-25) lost to Gujarat Titans 161/5 in 19.4 overs (Rahul Tewatia 40*; Dushmantha Chameera 2-22) by 5 wickets with 2 balls to spare. Player of the Match: Mohammed Shami.