‘Gujarat is on fire’: Gujarat steamroll Lucknow to march into the playoffs
Gujarat (Image Source : BCCI/IPL)
Gujarat faced Lucknow in the 57th match of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the MCA Stadium in Pune. On a slowish and gripping surface, the fans were treated to a low-scoring thriller.
Gujarat won the toss and decided to set a target for the opposition. Lucknow made good use of the playing conditions as they kept picking up wickets without conceding many runs. Wriddhiman Saha (5 of 11) was not able to carry his form into the match as he was the first wicket to fall for Gujarat. Mohsin Khan dismissed Saha in the third over when Gujarat’s core was just eight runs. Matthew Wade (10 of 7) was the second wicket to fall for Gujarat in the fifth over. The score at this stage was 24 runs. Shubman Gill kept his calm at the opposite end and did not get overawed by the situation. He respected the conditions and continued steadily. Hardik Pandya (11 of 13) gave a bit of stability to the innings along with Gill. The duo stitched a partnership of 27 runs before Pandya walked back to the pavilion.
The next man to join Gill in the middle was David Miller (26 of 24). They formed a partnership of 52 runs and brought the innings on track. A late flourish by Rahul Tewatia (22 of 16) along with Shubman Gill took Gujarat to a fighting total of 144 runs from their 20 overs. Gill carried his bat scoring 63 runs off 49 deliveries. The total of 144 runs looked par keeping the playing conditions in mind. All the bowlers from Lucknow bowled economically except Jason Holder. But it was Avesh Khan with two wickets from his 4 overs conceding 26 runs, who was the pick of the bowlers for Lucknow.
Lucknow went through a nightmare in their pursuit of the 145 runs. They were reduced to 33 for 3 within the sixth over. The big names in the batting line up – Quinton de Kock (11 of 10) and KL Rahul (8 of 16) were back in the hut and the team was visibly struggling. They failed recover from the initial jolt and kept losing wickets in regular intervals. Instead of showing resilience and the will to grind themselves to the total, the batters tried to play fancy shots and gave their wickets away. The only man to cross the 20 runs mark and show some resilience was Deepak Hooda. He watched from one end as the other batters fell like a pack of cards. He was the ninth man to be dismissed for his team as he scored 27 runs of 26 balls. Lucknow was bundled out for just 82 runs in the 14th over. Gujarat won the match convincingly by 62 runs. Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers for Gujarat with 4 wickets for 24 runs in his four overs. With the win Gujarat reclaimed the top spot in the points table while Lucknow slipped to the second spot. Gujarat also became the first team to qualify for the playoff of the Indian T20 League 2022.
Here is how Twitter reacted.
https://twitter.com/cricbuzz/status/1524047369956114435?s=20&t=s7aEP7h_3vGhnqOcQBsYkQ
Innings Break!
Disciplined bowling from #LSG restricts #GujaratTitans to a total of 144/4.
Scorecard – https://t.co/45Tbqyj6pV #LSGvGT #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/Sbc5laaSnf
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 10, 2022
144 is a modest score. But don’t eliminate #GujaratTitans prospects of winning for that. Slow pitch and Rashid Khan could be a handful for#LSG. It’s a cliche, but team that wins the Powerplay likely to win match
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 10, 2022
Brilliant from the @gujarat_titans bowlers. Excellent lengths, great discipline. Their stronger arm needs to win them this game.
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 10, 2022
WoW this was the number 1 team on the table, pathetic performance by #LSG #LSGvGT
— Sushant Mehta (@SushantNMehta) May 10, 2022
Wow! #GujaratTitans..Just wow. That was some performance!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 10, 2022
Gujarat Titans are the first team to book a playoff spot in #IPL2022. They win by 62 runs
Rashid 4/24 | Sai Kishore 2/7 | Yash Dayal 2/24 #LSGvsGT https://t.co/Y1bR9iJQiR
— Cricbuzz (@cricbuzz) May 10, 2022
@hardikpandya7 have taken good decision, even it is of chossing #batting or picking @saik_99 on this pitch
Congratulations #saikishore on wonderfull #debut@gujarat_titans is on fire#LSGvsGT#IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/aHEHP2HwwP— Munaf Patel (@munafpa99881129) May 10, 2022
Well done @saik_99 ! What a debut. #GTvsLSG
— Abhinav Mukund (@mukundabhinav) May 10, 2022
Gujaratis on top. Many congratulations to the franchise and the team for qualifying for the playoffs. Bowling was top class! @gujarat_titans
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 10, 2022
A memorable debut season for Gujarat Titans.
Can they go all the way and win the trophy? #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/VfliB7oEKx
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) May 10, 2022
