In the fourth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022, Gujarat Titans (GT) won the game against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) by five wickets. Rahul Tewatia and Abhinav Manohar pulled off a stunner in a competitive run chase.
Gujarat Titans were off to a great start with the ball as Mohammed Shami got KL Rahul for a golden duck. The Capri Global-owned franchise managed to pocket four wickets within the powerplay. After a fightback in the middle overs from the opponents, GT had a target of 159 to chase.
The Gujarat-based team didn’t have an ideal start as they lost Shubman Gill within the first over itself. The number three batsman, Vijay Shankar was also dismissed at a single-digit score. The skipper Hardik Pandya (33) and Mathew Wade (30) had a stable partnership of 57 that kept the scoreboard ticking. The older brother outsmarted the younger brother to break the partnership in the 11th over. The well-set Wade was also dismissed in the following over. David Miller (30) and Rahul Tewatia (40*) were the two new batsmen at the crease. The two hitters gathered 60 runs for the fifth-wicket partnership in no time and kept their team in the game. The two southpaws took on Deepak Hooda and Ravi Bishnoi to score some quick runs. The threatening partnership came to an end when Miller smashed the ball straight to the LSG captain at extra cover, who fumbled twice to complete the catch. Abhinav Manohar (15*) walked out to bat at a very crucial stage of the game and hit a boundary at long-off to ease off some pressure. With 11 needed off the last six deliveries, Manohar smashed two consecutive boundaries to Avesh Khan and brought the equation to two needed off three. Tewatia went through the covers for a boundary to finish things off and beat their fellow entrant.
Hooda (55) was the top scorer for LSG. The all-rounder received vital support from Ayush Badoni (54) who also hit a half-century on debut.
Mohammed Shami pocketed three wickets while Varun Aaron had two scalps to his name. Rashid Khan got one wicket. Chameera gathered two wickets while Khan, Hooda and Krunal got one each.
Gujarat made a phenomenal IPL debut and earned two important points. Shami was named Man of the Match for his economic spell of 3/25.
Scorecard:
Lucknow Super Giants: 158/6, Overs 20, Deepak Hooda 55, Mohammed Shami 3/25
Gujarat Titans: 161/5, Overs 19.4, Rahul Tewatia 40*, Dushmantha Chameera 2/22