Debutant franchise Gujarat Titans became the first to book the IPL 2022 playoffs berth on Tuesday.
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Gujarat Titans became the first franchise in IPL 2022 to book their playoffs berth after beating fellow debutants Lucknow Super Giants at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune on Tuesday. GT have registered an inch-perfect start to their debut season as they clinched victory in nine out of their 12 matches to qualify for the IPL 2022 playoffs with 18 points in the bag and a Net Run Rate of +0.376.
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Gujarat Titans won the toss and opted to bat. Opener Shubman Gill (63 not out) played the role of a sheet anchor while he was well supported by cameo knocks from David Miller (26) and Rahul Tewatia (22 not out) to guide their side to 144/4 on a tricky wicket where LSG fast bowler Avesh Khan scalped two wickets. In return, LSG batting line-up, fell like a pack of cards with only Deepak Hooda (27) showing some resilience against the GT bowling attack with premier Afghan spinner Rashid Khan picked up four wickets.
It was a moment to savor for Hardik Pandya & co and especially for the captain as he was given such a responsibility for the first time. He appreciated his team for the brilliant show throughout the season so far and mentioned that he is proud of their effort. He, however, said that his team could have done better in their previous match but a bonding session helped them rejuvenate before the clash on Tuesday.
“Really, really proud of the boys. It is a great effort to qualify before the 14th game in this league. To be honest, in the last game, we kind of thought that the game was over before it was over. We were always under pressure in all the other games that we won, and we felt that we’d finish off the last game with the kind of batting we had. That was learning we took. We just wanted to be ruthless today, and relax post game. I rate Sai Kishore quite high as a left-arm spinner. Because of the kind of fast bowlers we had, it wasn’t possible to play him and Jayant Yadav,” Pandya said at the post-match interview.
“Lucknow were a bit short in their lengths, and fuller lengths were working. Our bowlers did everything that we asked of them, and we ticked all boxes today. I always feel that if you lose a game like the one we lost in our last game, we win and lose games as a team. Yes, we did not do what we wanted to do. We messed it up, but we messed it up as a team. Everyone stood by each other, and we had a get-together post game and made sure the vibe was always there. We were still on second spot and that meant we were doing something right.”
