Gujarat Titans (GT) began their campaign in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 tournament on Monday night at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai with a 5-wicket victory over another new IPL team, Lucknow Super Giants (LSG).
Despite Lucknow Super Giants fighting back with half-centuries from Deepak Hooda and young and uncapped batsman Ayush Badoni, Gujarat Titans were but able to get past the finish line courtesy 40 not out from their all-rounder Rahul Tewatia, David Miller (30), Hardik Pandya (33) and Matthew Wade (30).
Gujarat Titans took control of the contest earlier as Mohammed Shami grabbed three wickets at the top of the order to reduce Lucknow Super Giants to 29/4 in 4.3 overs, but Hooda and Badoni did well to stage a remarkable fightback for their team.
Hooda scored 55 from 41 balls with the help of 6 boundaries and 2 sixes whereas Badoni cracked 3 sixes and 4 boundaries to make 54 from 41 balls, as the two batsmen added 87 runs for the fifth wicket to revive Lucknow Super Giants’ position.
Lucknow Super Giants all-rounder Krunal Pandya did well towards the end of the first innings as he hit 3 boundaries to score 21 not out from only 13 balls, as LSG finished at 158/6 from 20 overs. It was indeed a respected total given the horrific start that they made to this IPL 2022 tournament.
In their reply, Gujarat Titans lost Shubman Gill for a three-ball duck and Vijay Shankar for just 4 to be reduced to 15/2 inside three overs, but they staged a fine recovery through Australian wicket-keeper batsman Matthew Wade and the captain Hardik Pandya. Wade scored 30 from 29 balls with 4 boundaries whereas Pandya hammered 5 boundaries and 1 six to score 33 from 28 balls.
Wade and Pandya added 57 runs for the third wicket which helped Gujarat Titans come back into the contest whereas another strong partnership of 60 runs from only 34 balls between David Miller and Rahul Tewatia helped them inch closer to the target.
Towards the end, Abhinav Manohar played a superb knock of 15 not out from only 7 balls, hitting 3 boundaries in the process to shut the doors on Lucknow Super Giants as Gujarat Titans finished at 161/5 from 19.4 overs to record their first win.
Mohammed Shami was named the man of the match for his brilliant spell of 4-0-25-3 whereas Sri Lanka bowler Dushmantha Chameera was impressive for the Gujarat Titans, returning with 3-0-22-3.
Gujarat Titans will be next seen in action against Delhi Capitals on April 2 whereas Lucknow Super Giants will take on Chennai Super Kings on March 31.