‘The winning wagon rolls on’: Gujarat survive Russell scare to register sixth win of Indian T20 League 2022
Gujarat (image source : BCCI/IPL)
Kolkata squared off against Rajasthan in the 35th match of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. The match saw an even contest between the bat and the ball as the two teams fought it out in a thriller.
Gujarat won the toss and for the first time in the tournament, a captain decided to bat first. They had a poor start to their innings as Shubman Gill (7 of 5) was dismissed in the second over of the innings. Hardik Pandya walked out and along with Wriddhiman Saha stitched a partnership of 75 runs. Saha (25 of 25) was the second wicket to fall for Gujarat in the 11th over of the innings when their score was 83 runs. The hero for the team in the last match David Miller came in and shared another important partnership of 50 runs with the skipper. He was dismissed in the 17th over after he played a knock of 27 runs from 20 deliveries. Gujarat was stationed at 137 for three after the 17th over and the stage was ready for going berserk in the last three overs and put up a formidable total on the board.
But Kolkata was excellent with the ball in the death overs conceding just 19 runs in the last three overs while picking up six wickets. Andre Russell was particularly brilliant picking up four wickets in the last over of the innings conceding just five runs. Hardik Pandya was the highest scorer for Gujarat as he played a captain’s knock of 67 runs from 49 deliveries. He hit 4 fours and 2 sixes during his stay and played a major role in taking his team to a respectable total of 156 runs in their 20 overs.
Kolkata’s start to the chase was shaky and they seemed to have lost the plot very early. Mohammed Shami was breathing fire with the new ball as he picked up the two openers of Kolkata within the first three overs. The fall of wickets continued and Kolkata was down to 34 for four in 6.1 overs. Venkatesh Iyer who was sent down the order for the match steadied Kolkata’s ship along with Rinku Singh. The duo stitched a partnership of 45 runs and took the team’s score to 79 runs in the 13th over. Rinku Singh (35 off 27) was dismissed by Yash Dayal at this stage and Andre Russell walked out to bat. Yash Dayal bowled a superb short ball in the fourth delivery of the over cramping up Rusell and getting him caught at the fine leg. But the umpire called it a no-ball and the West Indian batter got a reprieve. As if rubbing salt into the wounds he slammed two sixes in the last two balls of the over. He was starting to look dangerous and was on his way to script another epic heist, as Kolkata stood at 107 for six after 15 overs. The equation of 50 runs from the last five overs looked achievable.
The Gujarat bowlers were particularly good in executing their plans against Russell to keep him relatively quiet. Their brilliant exploits meant that Kolkata needed 18 runs in the last over of the match. The stage was ideally set for Russell and he began the last over with a huge six of Alzarri Joseph. But in the very next delivery an excellent fielding display by Lockie Fergusson saw the back of Russell. Even in an unlike Russell knock he scored 48 runs off 25 deliveries hitting one four and 6 sixes. Kolkata ultimately fell short of the target by eight runs losing their fifth match in the tournament. While Gujarat’s dream run continues as they win their sixth in seven matches.
This is how Twitter reacted.
https://twitter.com/cricbuzz/status/1517821621603807232?s=20&t=iECqE6AMNlKgOlaRbkMblg
Match 35: Andre Russell plucks four wickets in final over! GT finish on 156/9 in 20 overs.
KKR need 157 runs to win
Follow Live Score and Updates: https://t.co/avuBjJrSrr
— HT Sports (@HTSportsNews) April 23, 2022
KKR need to ask themselves how everything comes down to Andre Russell in most of the matches. This has been happening for years now. Haven't seen their auction work improving in any season either.#KKRvGT
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) April 23, 2022
Narine, Shreyas, Rana and Russell. 4 of KKR's top 6 batters struggle against high-end pace and short-pitched deliveries. Such a flawed batting unit! #KKRvGT
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) April 23, 2022
That was an excellent over by Alzarri!! He has been such a nice addition to this relentless Gujarat Titans pace attack!#KKRvGT
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) April 23, 2022
Barring the impossible, @gujarat_titans have all but ensured the Top 4 ticket #GTvsKKR
— Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) April 23, 2022
KKR have lost their fourth game in a row, as GT defend 156, and win by 8 runs. #IPL2022 pic.twitter.com/udsfhFNhWE
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) April 23, 2022
It’s not easy for a bowler to hold his nerves, especially against power hitting. Well done #AlzarriJoseph and #GujaratTitans #KKRvsGT #ipl2022 #CricketTwitter
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) April 23, 2022
Dear Teams,
Build your playing XI around strong experienced bowling and watch the magic unfold.
Yours truly,
Gujarat Titans#KKRvsGT— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) April 23, 2022
The Gujarat Titans winning wagon rolls on!#IPL2022
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) April 23, 2022
https://twitter.com/PathakRidhima/status/1517866915754299392?s=20&t=iECqE6AMNlKgOlaRbkMblg
Gujarat Titans held on to their nerves till the end to claim a deserving win against Kolkata Knight Riders 😍
GT bowlers continue to shine 💯
📸 IPL#IPL #IPL2022 #Aavade #KKRHaiTaiyaar pic.twitter.com/1PW4BmnJJm
— Sportskeeda (@Sportskeeda) April 23, 2022
