Chasing 159, Gujarat Titans kept on losing wickets at regular intervals, but in the end, Tewatia held his nerve to take Gujarat over the line. Rahul Tewatia and Abhinav Manohar remained unbeaten on 40 and 15 as Gujarat Titans defeated KL Rahul’s Lucknow Super Giants by 5 wickets in the 4th game of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the Wankhede Stadium on Monday.
Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni smashed belligerent half-centuries to help Lucknow Super Giants post 158 for 6 against Gujarat Titans, but this thrilling game with many twists and turns came to an end with the victory of Gujarat Titans. Earlier, pacer Dushmantha Chameera removed Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar early in the powerplay to leave Gujarat Titans reeling at 44 for two after the first six overs at the Wankhede Stadium. Skipper Hardik Pandya joined Matthew Wade after his team lost two early wickets in the chase. Hardik and Wade added a 50 partnership but perished in quick succession. For Lucknow, Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni put up a rescue act to add a 50-run stand.
David Miller also played a crucial knock of 30 runs off 21 balls for Hardik Pandya’s side. Gujarat Titans pacer Mohammed Shami (3/25) bowled a fiery opening spell to knock the wind out of the Super Giants’ top order before Hooda (55 off 41 balls) and Badoni (54 off 41 balls) smashed the fifties to help their team cross the 150-run mark. Varun Aaron picked two wickets (2/45) while Rashid Khan (1/27) accounted for one batter.
“It was a phenomenal game. What a way to start the campaign. Starting off like that with the bat was not ideal but the way we recovered was phenomenal. It gives us so much confidence when the batters in the middle and lower order can do the job. We know with the Wankhede the ball can do a bit at the start and if we can get through that it will be ideal,” says Rahul on the defeat.
Gujarat Titans (Playing XI): Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade(w), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami
Lucknow Super Giants (Playing XI): KL Rahul(c), Quinton de Kock(w), Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan
