Gujarat Titans became the first team to qualify for the IPL 2022 final to be held in Ahmedabad after a clinical, unbeaten 106-run partnership between David Miller and Hardik Pandya took them over the line against Rajasthan Royals.
A rollicking start for Gujarat
Wriddhiman Saha was out caught behind against Trent Boult in just the second ball of the innings. However, both Matthew Wade and Shubman Gill went on a counterattack fueled by some insipid bowling inside the powerplay. Prasidh Krishna’s second over that contained two boundaries off the bat, and a wide one down the legside set the tone as he ended up giving 14 in his first. Although Prasidh made amends in his second over, giving away only two, it was sandwiched between high-scoring overs at the other end. Wade picked back-to-back boundaries against Boult when he erred in line, and while Gill was fortunate to get one off an inside edge he too creamed one through covers as Boult gave away 31 in his first three. The onslaught was continued by Gill when Ashwin was brought on inside the powerplay. Lofting him for a six first and then cutting and flicking for boundaries, Gill started off the forgettable day for the spinner where he ended up conceding 40 in his four overs.
