Picture : Twitter/ IPL
Gujarat Titans are now on top of the points table in Tata IPL 2022. The Titans beat The Rajasthan Royals by 37 runs at The DY Patil Stadium to secure the top spot.
Royals skipper Sanju Samson won the toss and fielded first . The Royals coming in to the match suffered a big blow as star seam bowler Trent Boult was ruled out due to side strain. Fellow Kiwi all- rounder Jimmy Neesham took his place.
The Titans began on a shaky note . Matthew Wade’s poor form continued with ( 12) , Shubman Gill out for 13 , Vijay Shankar ( 2) . Titans were struggling at 53/ 3 . Skipper Hardik Pandya took control with his power packed innings hitting a blazing 52 ball 87 with 8 fours and four sixes, along with Abhinav Manohar 43 ( 28 balls, 4 fours and two sixes) put the Titans on track . The finishing was done by David Miller who was unbeaten with a 14 ball 31 with five fours and one six. Titans posting an impressive 192/ 4 in 20 overs.
Absence of Tent Boult hurt the Royals big and the bowling figures showed that : James Neesham 0/ 29 ( 3 overs) , Prasidh Krishna 0/ 35 ( 4 overs) , Kuldeep Sen 1/ 51 ( 4 overs) , Yuzvendra Chahal 1/ 32 ( 4 overs) , Riyan Parag 1/ 12 ( 1 over) , Ravichandran Ashwin 0/ 33 ( 4 overs)
The Royals in the chase need a blazing start . In imperious form Jos Buttler meant business from the word go, Hitting shots all around the ground with timing and brute force . Buttler raced on to a 24 ball 54 with 8 fours and three sixes. But Buttler was bowled by a beauty of a slow ball by Lockie Ferguson just when he threatened to take the match away from the Titans. Devdutt Padikkal poor form continued out for 0. Ravichandran Ashwin promoted up the order scored 8 . Ashwin was out caught by a brilliant catch by David Miller Skipper Sanju Samson was out for 11 a victim of Hardik Pandya’s brilliant pick -up and throw in the field. Shimron Hetmyer tried his best with a 17 ball 29 > But The Royals fell short and could manage a score of 155/9 in 20 overs.
For the Titans : Mohammed Shami 1/ 39 ( 4 overs), Lockie Ferguson 3/23 ( 4 overs) , Yash Dayal 3/ 40 ( 4 overs) , Rashid Khan 0/ 24 ( 4 overs) , Hardik Pandya 1/ 18 ( 2. 3 overs)
