Twitter Reactions: Gujarat Titans trump fellow debutants Lucknow Super Giants in a last over thriller
While it was a collective effort with the bat for the Titans, it was all set up earlier by Mohammed Shami with a sensational new-ball spell.
Amazing! Indian Premier League (IPL) debutants Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT) played out a thriller at the Wankhede Stadium. The Titans, in the end, held their nerve with Rahul Tewatia, David Miller and Abhinav Manohar showing off their hitting skills as the game went to the last over. It was yet another win for a chasing team, fourth on the trot, in the ongoing IPL season.
Earlier, Mohammed Shami bowled one of the best new ball spells. He delivered an unplayable delivery first up to KL Rahul and then breached the defenses of Quinton de Kock and Manish Pandey. In between, Shubman Gill took a blinder of a catch running behind to dismiss Evin Lewis and LSG were reeling at 29/4 in the 5th over.
Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni then took their time to get hold of the surface before the former unleashed his shots. It was a suddent counter-attack from Hooda which the Titans didn’t expect at all and in no time, he had crossed his 50. His partner Badoni also showcased his talent as the youngster slammed the likes of Lockie Ferguson and Rashid Khan.
The duo added 87 runs for fifth wicket and once Hooda got out, Badoni took control of the innings in his hands smashing a fifty. Krunal Pandya also hit some meaty blows at the back end of the innings as LSG managed to post a fighting total of 158 runs for the loss of six wickets in their 20 overs. The score looked a distant dream when they had lost four wickets within first five overs.
Titans win a thriller in the last over
The chasing team is always at an advantage at the Wankhede stadium and despite LSG’s fightback, the Gujarat Titans were the favourites to gun the 150-run target down. But even they got off to a poor start with Dushmantha Chameera breathing fire with the new ball. He sent back Shubman Gill in the very first over of the innings and then delivered a jaffa to castle Vijay Shankar.
At 15/2, Hardik Pandya came out to bat and steadied things with some quick runs. He was supported by Matthew Wade as they stitched 57 runs together. But towards the back half of the partnership, runs came at a slow pace which led to Hardik trying to up the ante off his brother Krunal‘s bowling. But the elder brother won that battle with Hardik holing out to long-off.
Deepak Hooda’s brilliant day only got better when he castled Wade soon and yet again at 78/4 in the 12th over, the Titans looked out of the game. With the required run-rate going out of hands, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia had to play their shots and that is what they did. After taking some time out to assess conditions, both batters took toll of the opposition bowlers who were struggling thanks to dew playing a crucial role.
The duo added 60 runs for the fifth wickets in quick time and just when things looked cozy for the Titans, Miller got out in the 18th over. Eventually, the equation came down to 20 runs off the last two overs. Abhinav Manohar and Tewatia managed to hit a four each in the penultimate over and when GT needed 11 runs off the final over, the former showed off his hitting range off Avesh Khan.
However, it was only fitting that Tewatia hit the winning runs having brought the team back from a precarious situation earlier in the innings. The last over thriller ended with the Gujarat Titans opening the account with a win.
Here’s how Twitter reacted:
Download Our App