New Delhi: Gujarat Titans’ openers Wriddiman Saha and Shubman Gill blasted quick fifties to set the stage for a huge total. Saha has been scoring quick runs and this time he managed to convert it into a big knock of 81 off 43. In-form Gill scored a whopping 94* off 51 and finished the inning well to put up a score of 227/2.
Saha and Gill began by attacking the pacers and accumulated 78 runs in the powerplay. Once the batters settled in, they also went after the spinners and posted up a partnership of 142 runs in 73 balls. Saha hit a 20-ball fifty and his inning included 10 fours and 4 sixes before he got out to Avesh Khan as substitute fielder Prerak Mankad picked a brilliant low catch.
Skipper Hardik Pandya promoted himself to number 3 and blasted 25 off 15, hitting a couple of sixes and a four. The sweet rivalry between the Pandya brothers saw another turn as they faced each other as captains of the opposite teams and Krunal picked Hardik’s catch to get him out.
Shubman Gill played till the end and once again showed his class with a knock just shy of a century. He hit his first four in the 16th over, before which he dealt with the LSG bowlers in sixes. Gill hit 7 sixes and 2 fours to play at a strike rate of 184. Both Saha and Gill did not opt for scoops and out-of-the-book shots, rather they relied on timing and hitting the ball on the shorter boundaries.
David Miller played a cameo of 21* off 12 to end the affairs with Gill.
Avesh Khan ended up with the figures of 34/1, bowling economically and owning up to the responsibility of being the senior regular pacer on the side. Skipper Krunal Pandya ended his four overs with 38 runs while everyone else went for runs. Swapnil Singh, who went for seven runs in an over did not get another one as Krunal turned to Marcus Stoinis who went for 20 in his single over. Missing KL Rahul, there were some question marks on Krunal’s captaincy.
LSG has Quinton de Kock and Kyle Mayers to get an explosive start but the pitch showed some signs of getting slower as the game proceeds. Chasing 228 will be a hefty task and the batters will have to stand up to the occassion if LSG wants to break out of the mid-table jam.
