New Delhi: The final over witnessed four consecutive wickets, two picked up by Mohit Sharma and two runouts, as Gujarat Titans defended 135 against Lucknow Super Giants. LSG choked after a good start and the defending champions were on point to win the game by 7 runs. KL Rahul scored 68 off 61 but got out just when he had to finish the affairs.
Titans’ spinners bowled well and used the slow pitch to restrict runs and pick wickets while pacers Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma delivered in the death overs.
Shami started the inning with a maiden over against KL Rahul, but he avenged it by striking three consecutive fours against Shami in the third over and also completed his 7,000 T20 runs. At the end of the powerplay, Rahul and Kyle Mayers brought LSG to 53 for no loss but just in the next over, Rashid Khan struck as he bowled Mayers for 24 off 19 with a googly.
Rahul and Krunal Pandya build up a 51-run stand to put up LSG in a great position to chase the total. Noor Ahmad dismissed Krunal for run-a-ball 23 as Wriddhiman Saha stumped him and the Afghan spinner struck again to dismiss Nicholas Pooran to take Super Giants downhill. After that, it was the Shami-Sharma magic in the death that they restricted LSG.
In the final over, LSG needed 12 runs and Rahul got a double off the first ball. On the next ball, he got a top edge off a slower short ball and gave a catch on the deep square leg. Shamra came back with another slower short ball and dismissed Marcus Stoinis on a golden duck. On the fourth and fifth deliveries, Mohit went for yorkers and Ayush Badoni and Hooda looked for a second run but got runout and the game was over.
In the first inning, captain Hardik Pandya led from the front and scored 66 off 50 to take GT to a fighting total of 135/6. After Krunal Pandya dismissed Shubman Gill for a duck, Saha attacked and scored 47 off 37 before Deepak Hooda took a catch off Krunal’s delivery. Hardik Pandya, coming at number 3, hit two fours and four sixes and his fifty helped the Titans put something on the board.
GT witnessed a middle order collapse when Krunal Pandya picked two early wickets and Amit Mishra and Naveen-ul-Haq picked one each. Marcus Stoinis was brilliant with as he picked two wickets in the 20th over.
Pandya brothers played well for their respective teams but in the end only one could win and it was Hardik this time. With defending 135, they have surpassed LSG to defend the lowest this season.
