Twitter Reactions: Mohit Sharma’s last-over heroics help Gujarat trump LSG in low-scoring thriller

Defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) snatched the game away from Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by seven runs in a low-scoring thriller. In doing so, Hardik Pandya and Co. earned their fourth win of the IPL 2023 season in the first match of the day at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday, April 22 .

Titans’ skipper, Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to put up a total. The defending champions were handed an early blow in the form of Shubman Gill, who was dismissed for nought. In addition to this, the slower wicket on offer played a massive role as Gujarat were unable to get the required boundaries on a consistent basis. 

Wriddhiman Saha and skipper Hardik Pandya got the vital runs on the board as GT concluded the powerplay (1-6 overs) with 40 runs. Despite playing on a slow deck, the batters decided to target Ravi Bishnoi as he gave away 49 runs in his four overs and failed to get any breakthrough.

A 68-run stand between Saha and Hardik came to an end when Krunal Pandya got the crucial wicket of the former for 47 runs. With little to no help from the rest of the unit, Hardik pretty much steered the side until the final over of the contest. 

The skipper got 66 off 50 balls and laced it with four maximums and two fours. Meanwhile, Krunal relished a brilliant outing with the ball as he got two wickets to his name in four overs, giving away mere 16 runs.

On the other hand, Marcus Stoinis too got two wickets under his belt whereas Naveen-ul-Haq and Amit Mishra got one wicket apiece as GT concluded their innings with a paltry 135 runs.

Titans' bowling unit dragged the match back in their favour against Super Giants

The Titans brought in Jayant Yadav as the Impact Player for Gill to bolster their spin attack to gain an advantage of the slow surface. Mohammed Shami kickstarted the chase well for the defending champions as he concluded the first over with a maiden. 

Soon after the first over, the opening duo of KL Rahul and Kyle Mayers, shifted gears and got the boundaries with ease. The pair remained steady to get 53 runs in the first six overs of the chase. However, Rashid Khan got the vital breakthrough, as he dismissed Mayers 24 off 19 balls.

Skipper Rahul continued his fine knock and notched up a half-century off 38 balls. Despite the efforts by Lucknow, Hardik and Co. got the game down to the wire and brought seasoned pacer Mohit Sharma into the attack. 

With 12 required off the final over, Sharma proved his mettle and showed nerves of steel as he handed Gujarat four wickets in quick succession (two own wickets and two run outs) to snatch the game from LSG. In doing so, Gujarat obtained their fourth win of the season.

Here is how Twitter buzzed during the LSG vs GT clash-

Venkatesh Prasad@venkateshprasad

Bottling a run chase when 30 needed of 35 balls with 9 wickets in hand requires some baffling batting. Happened with Punjab in 2020 on few ocassions losing games they should have won easily. As brilliant as Guj were with ball & Hardik smart with his captaincy, brainless from Lko

07:13 PM · Apr 22, 2023

1.7K368

Virender Sehwag@virendersehwag

Ufff , how could you lose that. Brilliant from Gujarat. Outstanding bowling and captaincy to defend that . #LSGvGT

07:15 PM · Apr 22, 2023

1.8K93

Harbhajan Turbanator@harbhajan_singh

What a game @gujarat_titans captain @hardikpandya7 and #mohitsharma star ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️Good to see Mohit doing so well . Khush tho bhut honge aaj NEHRA Ji . Muskuriye kyuki aap Lakhnow mai hai 😜

07:16 PM · Apr 22, 2023

28712

Sumedha@cricguppwsumms

What a beautiful display of planning, execution and holding the nerves. @gujarat_titans #GTvsLSG #IPL2O23

07:09 PM · Apr 22, 2023

00

Sreedip Banerjee!@WwwSreedip

#KLRahul𓃵 should retire with immediate effect from all forms of cricket! Domestic international IPL everything, he can lose you matches single handedly! Worse player of t20 in modern era #GTvsLSG #IPL2023

07:09 PM · Apr 22, 2023

32

Shreevats goswami@shreevats1

Extra special performance by Mohit sharma , a masterclass of bowling in such conditions . Unbelievable ! Hats off .Questionable strategy by LSG 🫣#TATAIPL #GTvsLSG

07:11 PM · Apr 22, 2023

50

Kushan Sarkar@kushansarkar

whatever be the nature of track, of you are consuming 60 balls and then bungling a chase of 135, tough questions await you. hope Gautam Gambhir asks those questions #GTvsLSG

07:07 PM · Apr 22, 2023

788

Johns.@CricCrazyJohns

KL Rahul dismissed for 68 from 61 balls.

Vaibhav@vabby_16

@CricCrazyJohns mahan Test match innings from KL Rahul comes to end.. he is trying put himself on contention wtc final #LSGvGT #GTvsLSG

07:08 PM · Apr 22, 2023

62

Induneshan Sachu@induneshansachu

Mohammad Shami deserves more recognition and appreciation for the way he has been bowling in a pressure situation. just nails the lengths in which he wanted to bowl and doesn't allow the batsman to go after him. #GTvsLSG #IPL2O23

07:10 PM · Apr 22, 2023

01

Sathya 💛@imsathyeah

Well played na 🔥😍 #GTvsLSG

07:08 PM · Apr 22, 2023

90

Dharmendra Sharma@dharmendra083

Slow Khelo aur Match haar jao😄😄#KLRahul #GTvsLSG

07:10 PM · Apr 22, 2023

10

Mr.Scofield@Mankading2_0

KL Rahul trying to play a positive knock. #IPL2023 #GTvsLSG #KLRahul

07:06 PM · Apr 22, 2023

20

Game Time@invincible6212

Rahul today is the day when even your fans will give up on you 😭 #GTvsLSG #IPL2O23

07:10 PM · Apr 22, 2023

00

Yogen (45)@frontFootPuller

Winning and losing is not in our hand: legend KL Rahul We try to maintain the left right combination: insecure KL Rahul Because LSG might think of replacing him with QDK. #LSGvGT #GTvsLSG #GTvLSG #klrahul

07:15 PM · Apr 22, 2023

10

Krunal Panchal@YKrunalTweets

Always wondered why the player like #KLRahul not going for run's in 1st over of a T20 game. Always... If he can hit 3 consecutive 4's to same bowler in his 2nd over, then why not in 1st? #LSGvsGT #IPL2O23 #AskStar @StarSportsIndia @IPL

Krunal Panchal@YKrunalTweets

LSG lost by 7 runs. Where #KLRahul played a maiden over in TWO Game. You just can't blame other's. Poor in shortest form of Game. But what an over by #MohitSharma. Class. Great pick by #GT. #GTvsLSG

07:15 PM · Apr 22, 2023

00

Abhinav Mukund@mukundabhinav

How did lucknow lose that? Wowww... that was some watch. Well done Gujarat. I am absolutely astonished by what we witnessed there! Unbelievable #LSGvGT #IPL2023

07:16 PM · Apr 22, 2023

1376