Ahmedabad: A determined Gujarat Titans made their maiden IPL season an unforgettable one by clinching the 2022 title with a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in front of a roaring home crowd of 1,04,859 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.
By finishing off a chase of 131 with 11 balls remaining and defeating Rajasthan for the third time in IPL 2022, Gujarat have capped off a season where they exceeded everyone’s pre-tournament expectations to become champions in their debut season of the competition.
Chasing 131 wasn’t going to be easy for Gujarat on a slow, dry pitch with variable bounce.
After Gujarat could amass just 31/2 from power-play, Rajasthan’s bowling continued to be incisive from both ends as Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya struggled to break free despite some boundaries here and there. Gill, who was dropped on fourth ball of the innings, earned another reprieve in the eighth over when a hoick down the pitch wasn’t caught by a diving extra cover.
But the introduction of Ravichandran Ashwin brought Pandya the chance to find his groove, taking the off-spinner for a four with a thick outer edge past the keeper and followed it up with a six over wide long-on.
The 63-run stand off 53 balls between Pandya and Gill ended when Yuzvendra Chahal took out the former with the one turning away and taking the outer edge, giving a catch to slip. It seemed like Pandya’s dismissal would leave Gujarat in a spot of bother.
David Miller, one of their key players in the season, began by driving Obed McCoy through extra cover for a boundary and then dispatched an overpitched ball from Ashwin over long-on to make the equation 22 runs off the last four overs.
The left-hander took two boundaries off Krishna’s final over, a pull swivelled over fine leg followed by a thick edge through third man. Gill finished off the innings in style with a swivelled six off McCoy over deep square leg to make Gujarat IPL 2022 champions.
Gujarat Titans had restricted Rajasthan Royals at 130
Earlier, three-wicket haul by Hardik Pandya helped Gujarat Titans had restricted Rajasthan Royals at 130/9 in the first innings of the IPL 2022 final.
Apart from Hardik, Sai Kishore scalped two wickets while Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal, and Rashid Khan took one wicket each.
Opted to bat first, Rajasthan made a good start to their innings with openers Yashasvi Jaiswal and Jos Buttler scoring 21 runs in 3 overs. But the duo faced a blow after Yash Dayal dismissed Jaiswal in the 4th over, leaving the team’s total at 31/1.
Rajasthan skipper Sanju Samson joined Buttler at the crease and kept the scoreboard moving for their side. The duo took Rajasthan across the 50-run mark in 7 overs and kept the momentum alive.
Gujarat got another breakthrough in the 9th over, when Hardik Pandya dismissed Samson, who was caught by Sai Kishore, after scoring 14 runs. His departure brought Devdutt Padikkal on strike, who could not do much and was caught by Mohammed Shami on Rashid Khan’s delivery.
It was followed by another setback for Rajasthan as they lost the most precious wicket of Buttler in the very next over, as he fell prey to Hardik’s spell, leaving his side struggling at 79/4 in 13 overs.
Shimron Hetmyer and Ravichandran Ashwin joined hands at the crease and tried to anchor the innings for some time. Hetmyer was then caught and bowled by Hardik in the 15th over and Ashwin got dismissed by Sai Kishore in the 16th, with the team’s score at 98/6.
Riyan Parag and Trent Boult came to the crease as the last hopes for Rajasthan but could not stand long. Boult got caught by Rahul Tewatia on Sai Kishore’s delivery in the 18th over.
Parag was then joined by Obed McCoy, who got run out in the 20th over and it was followed by the former getting bowled by Mohammed Shami, ending Rajasthan’s innings at 130/9.
Brief Scores: Rajasthan Royals 130/9 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 39, Yashasvi Jaiswal 22; Hardik Pandya 3/17, R Sai Kishore 2/20) lost to Gujarat Titans 133/3 in 18.1 overs (Shubman Gill 45 not out, Hardik Pandya 34; Trent Boult 1/14, Yuzvendra Chahal 1/20) by seven wickets
With inputs from IANS/ANI
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