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In their dream debut in the IPL, Gujarat Titans powered their way to the final of the Tata IPL 2022 as they beat Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 at Eden Gardens , Kolkata by 7 wickets.
GT skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to field first. The Royals lost Yashasvi Jaiswal early for ( 3). After few low scores in some matches orange cap holder Jos Buttler found his touch again. And Buttler was again impressive as he smashed a 56 ball 89 ( 12 fours , 2 sixes). Skipper Sanju Samson was unlucky to miss a fifty and score big as he fell for a attacking 26 ball 47 ( 5 fours , 3 sixes) . Devdutt Padikkal ( 28), Shimron Hetmyer ( 4 ), Riyan Parag ( 4) dismissals meant Royals could not finish on a high . Royals could manage 188/ 6 in their 20 overs. Rashid Khan was superb and tied the RR batsmen with his wily leg spin and it proved decisive at the end
For GT the bowling figures read : Mohammed Shami 1/ 43 ( 4 overs), Yash Dayal 1/ 46 (4 overs), Alzarri Joseph 0/ 27 ( 2 overs), Rashid Khan 0/ 15 (4 overs) , Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 1/ 43 ( 4 overs), Hardik Pandya 1/ 14 ( 2 overs)
In reply , GT was rocked early with Wriddhiman Saha dismissed by a beauty from Trent Boult in the second ball in the first over for 0. But Aussie Matthew Wade 30 ball 35 ( 6 fours) and Shubman Gill 21 ball 35 ( 5 fours, 1 six) put the Titans on track for the final . Gill was unfortunately run- out in mix up with Wade. GT did not suffer any jitters as GT skipper Hardik Pandya not out with a responsible 27 ball ball 40 ( 5 fours) kept the chase momentum. The big hitting South African David Miller however proved to be the game changer as he hit blistering unbeaten 38 ball 68 ( 3 fours and 5 sixes) to seal the match in GT favour. GT finishing at 191/ 3 in 19.3 overs.
Needing 16 off the final over from Prasidh Krishna, the imperious Miller smashed three sixes in a row to book Gujarat’s place in Sunday’s final at the Narendra Modi stadium in Ahmedabad.
For RR the bowling figures were : Trent Boult 1/38 (4 overs), Prasidh Krishna 0/ 40 ( 3.3 overs), the spin duo of Ravichandran Ashwin )/ 40 ( 4 overs) and Yuzvendra Chahal 0/ 32 ( 4 overs) did not impress and both went for runs it cost the Royals hard. Obed McCoy struggled with his line and wide balls 1/ 40 ( 4 overs).
For the Royals despite the loss now get a second chance to reach final as they meet the winner of the Lucknow Super Giants and the Royal Challengers match.
