Gujarat Titans (GT) were crowned champions of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022. This was their maiden triumph. In the final at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, GT defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 7 wickets to clinch the trophy.
The key person in GT’s success was Hardik Pandya, who led from the front with an all-round performance.
It was a tough win. GT were chasing 131 to win the final, but lost Wriddhiman Saha’s wicket early after Prasidh Krishna went through the opener’s defence and the stumps went tumbling. Trent Boult added pressure by bowling a magnificent maiden over with the new ball.
Matthew Wade hit the first six of the innings before the left-handed batsman was caught inside the circle, giving Boult his first wicket. Shubman Gill let go a BOUNDARY at the end of the powerplay as GT moved to 31/2 after 6 overs.
Skipper Hardik Pandya joined Gill but RR kept things tight with the ball and created pressure. GT were placed at 54/2 at the halfway stage and required 77 off the final ten overs.
Pandya then switched gears and added two fours followed by a maximum against Ashwin as the fifty partnership was up for the third wicket. Yuzvendra Chahal put an end to the partnership with a brilliant delivery that turned sharply to dismiss the GT skipper, who was caught at first slip.
GT were 97/3 before David Miller, who walked in next, conveniently took the pressure off with his elegant strokes and brought the equation down to 22 off 24. Miller added two more fours as the next overproduced 13 runs. Gill, who anchored the innings brilliantly at the other end, finished the game in style with a maximum as GT chased down the total with 11 balls to spare.
RR had opted to bat first and fielded an unchanged squad. GT made one change – Lockie Ferguson replaced Alzarri Joseph in the XI.
RR openers Jos Buttler and Yashasvi Jaiswal started cautiously with the bat after the GT pace attacks added pressure with the new ball.
Jaiswal was on the move with two sixes before the RR opener was caught by Sai Kishore off Yash Dayal’s bowling in the fourth over. Skipper Sanju Samson joined Buttler at the crease as RR moved to 45/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Butler then took on Ferguson’s fiery pace and struck two consecutive fours. GT skipper Hardik Pandya introduced himself into the attack and dismissed the opposition skipper after Samson miscued the shot and was caught by Sai Kishore.
With RR at 71/2 at the halfway stage as Buttler ensured the flow of boundaries from one end. Rashid Khan was finally rewarded with a wicket after being economical in his first two overs as Devdutt Padikkal was caught at backward point.
Pandya claimed his second wicket to dismiss the dangerous Buttler, who was caught behind for 39. RR were 6 down after they lost the wickets of Shimron Hetmyer and Ravi Ashwin in quick succession.
Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans 133/3 (Shubman Gill 45*, Hardik Pandya 34; Trent Boult 1-14) beat Rajasthan Royals 130/9 (Jos Buttler 39, Yashasvi Jaiswal 22; Hardik Pandya 3-17) by 7 wickets.
Player of the Final: Hardik Pandya (Gujrat Titans)
Player of the Series : Joss Buttler (Rajasthan Royals)
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