IPL 2022, GT vs LSG, Top Performances: Shubman's well-measured 63* takes GT into playoffs
IPL 2022, GT vs LSG, Top Performances: Shubman Gill's 63*, Rashid Khan's 4-24 and Mohammed Shami-Yash Dayal's opening spell are the top three performances.
Brief Scores: GT 144-4 (Gill 63*, Tewatia 22*, Avesh 2-26) beat LSG 82 (Hooda 27, Rashid 4-24, Sai Kishore 2-7) by 62 runs
Player of the match: Shubman Gill (63* off 49 deliveries)
Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Gujarat Titans (GT) locked horns against each other at the Maharashtra Cricket Association (MCA) Stadium in Pune, to decide who will be the first team to reach 18 points and qualify for the 15TH edition of Indian Premier League (IPL).
Gujarat Titan’s captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bat first on what looked like a balanced wicket with pace and bounce on offer for the seamers. Lucknow went into this match with one change, Karan Sharma made his debut for LSG, replacing Ravi Bishnoi.
Coming into this match from back-to-back defeats, Gujarat made three changes to their playing 11. Lockie Ferguson was replaced by Matthew Wade, Yash Dayal replaced Pradeep Sangwan and a debut cap was handed over to Sai Kishore who replaced Sai Sudharshan.
Gujarat Titans smother Lucknow by 62 runs; reach playoffs
Mohsin Khan, Dushmantha Chameera and Avesh Khan exploited the hard and bouncy wicket of Pune exponentially. GT who have had three 50+ partnership (69, 51, 17 and 106) in the last four innings were struggling at 35-2, after the first six overs courtesy some classic display of fast bowling by the seam bowling trio of LSG.
Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill tried to steady the sinking ship of the Titans but their captain was dismissed the very next over after the strategic time out. This was also the third time GT had lost a wicket immediately after the strategic time out.
GT were stranded at 59-3 after 10 over mark, scoring less than a run a ball. The need of the hour for Gujarat was someone to take ownership and bat deep. Shubman ticked all boxes with a sensible knock with minimal risks, as he stitched a crucial 52-run partnership with David Miller which took the team’s total above the 100-run mark. When Miller got dismissed, Gujarat were still in trouble with just 103 runs on the board at the end of the 16th over. Shubman then glued a quickfire 41-run partnership of just 24 balls with newly established finisher Rahul Tewatia, which ensured Gujarat posted a decent total of 144 runs on the board for LSG to chase.
Gujarat started their defence with the man who has the best seam presentation in the world, Mohammed Shami. Shami spelt havoc on this belter of a pitch, targeting KL Rahul with Test match line and length. He was ably supported by Yash Dayal, who draw first blood by dismissing Quinton de Kock. QdK’s wicket was followed by Rahul’s dismissal off a brilliantly planned short ball by Shami.
LSG looked like they had no answers to this superb spell of seam bowling by the Gujarat pacers as they kept on losing wickets almost every alternate over. Lucknow have had the worst powerplay performance against GT in the two matches against them, with scores of 32-4 and 37-3. After the 11th over, LSG were looking down and out with half of their batters back to the pavilion with just 62 runs on the board. The spin twin of Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore wrapped the lower-order of LSG, picking six wickets between them in the next 17 deliveries and sealing what at the end looked like a one-sided match with more than six overs to spare. This win ensured Gujarat a ticket to the playoffs in their maiden appearance in IPL, besides making them the first team to do so in this edition.
Let’s take a look at the top performances in the game between GT and LSG, IPL 2022:</