Gujrat Titans beat Lucknow Super Giants by 5 wickets in match number 4 of TATA IPL at the Wankhede Cricket Stadium on Monday.
The right-arm pacer Mohammad Shami bowled a furious spell before Rahul Tewatia smacked an unbeaten knock of 40 to GT register a five-wicket victory over LSG to open their account in the IPL campaign at the Wankhede Cricket Stadium on Monday.
Mohammed Shami, the Player of the Match:
[On the first ball] I just wanted to bowl a good line and length. When the ball comes out of your hand well…people say it’s a God-gift but not exactly, I have worked on it a lot. Hardik had asked me if I wanted to bowl the fourth over, I said, no, keep one for later.
Hardik Pandya (GT skipper):
This was the right game for us to finish on either side but I am happy that we won. When the wicket assists you a little bit, Shami can really come into the game. He got us to a great start. [On batting at No. 4] I want to take some more responsibility with the bat. All the players contributed. It was quite humid as well so I didn’t want to take the risk of giving Shami his fourth over on the trot. Getting out to Krunal found have pinched me more if we wouldn’t have won.
Rahul Tewatia:
The wicket was so good that Miller and I were discussing that we would take it deep and it’s a matter of just one over. After I hit that six with the reverse sweep, that got Bishnoi thinking. Abhinav is a clean striker of the ball, so I had full trust in him that he would come and play his shots straight away. It’s a big thing to do it in your first game. I gave him the strike because I know he is a proper batter and can hit big shots. We are doing quality practice, not putting in long hours. Ashish Nehra has kept the mood in the camp very light.
KL Rahul (LSG skipper):
I think it was a phenomenal game. The start wasn’t ideal but the way we recovered was phenomenal. We know at the Wankhede the ball can do something initially. We couldn’t have started the campaign in a better way. The win would have been great but a lot to learn from this. If anyone can exploit the pitch, it’s Shami. I have played with him for three-four years in the last franchise and I knew he could be dangerous. I think we gave ourselves a good chance with the ball till the 14th or 15th over. But it can be difficult with the dew. We need to go back and practice a bit more with the wet ball. Credit to Tewatia and Abhinav as well. [On Ayush Badoni] He is the baby AB for us, From the first day he was batting, it was unbelievable. He can hit the ball 360 degrees.
Brief Scores: Lucknow Super Giants 158 for 6 in 20 overs (Deepak Hooda 55, Ayush Badoni 54; Mohammed Shami 3/25).
Gujarat Titans 161 for 5 in 19.4 overs (Rahul Tewatia 40 not out, Hardik Pandya 33; Dushmantha Chameera 2/22).