Nobody gave Gujarat Titans a chance, but they stunned everyone by winning the Indian Premier League championship in their debut season following a seven-wicket triumph against Rajasthan Royals in the final here on Sunday, defying all pre-tournament forecasts.
After losing the toss, Gujarat’s highly-rated bowling attack, headed by captain Hardik Pandya (3/17), reduced a tough Rajasthan Royals batting squad to 130 for nine.
Shubman Gill and David Miller continued their undefeated streaks with 45 and 32 points, respectively, to help their side to a convincing victory.
The chase should have been easy, but Rajasthan bowled their hearts out to give it a thrilling finish. Gujarat stayed composed under challenging circumstances like they had done all season, completing the chase in 18.1 overs.
In their inaugural season, few people gave Gujarat a chance, particularly following a mixed auction. They had to wait until the last minute to obtain wicketkeepers Wriddhiman Saha and Matthew Wade.
READ MORE: “MS Dhoni Sir’s World Cup Winning Hit Inspired Me To…”: Kiran Navgire
It wasn’t a star-studded squad, but Hardik excelled with his leadership and was able to get the most out of his teammates.
Apart from the capacity to bounce back from any circumstance, thanks to the brilliance of Miller and Rahul Tewatia, his performance with the bat and ball was crucial to the team’s victory.
After registering an unimpressive total, Rajasthan needed to make a particular effort with the ball to get back into the contest.
With Wriddhiman Saha (5) and Matthew Wade (8) back in the dugout, the speed combo of Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna was excellent in the powerplay, reducing Gujarat to 31 for two.
Krishna got one to seam back in from a decent length to penetrate Saha’s defence and smash into the stumps.
Boult dismissed Wade, who also bowled a maiden over in his clean effort. If Yuzvendra Chahal had held on to an easy catch of Gill off Boult in the opening over of the innings, Gujarat would have been three down in the powerplay.
Hardik and Gill fought hard to attain the boundaries, but they never felt under pressure since the asking rate was kept under tight control.
Hardik (34 off 30) opted to go after R Ashwin in the 12th over, collecting four and a six off consecutive deliveries to set up the 50-run partnership with Gill and lead Gujarat to 77 for two in 12 overs.
The captain was caught off guard by Chahal’s superb leg break, but Gill and Miller came through. When Gill hit the winning six, the whole stadium, which seats over a lakh people, exploded in applause.
Earlier, Hardik (3/17) and Rashid Khan (1/18) each hit three times in their four overs to put their squad on track for a championship in their first season.
After captain Sanju Samson chose to put runs on the board in a massive final, Rajasthan got off to a shaky start.
Despite Jos Buttler’s (39 of 35) and Yashasvi Jaiswal’s (22 off 16) best efforts, Gujarat bowlers were able to keep the pressure on the opposition.
Compared to Buttler at the start of the innings, Jaiswal, who appeared hesitant against Mohammad Shami’s speed and swing, took more chances.
The most reassuring stroke Jaiswal tried was a superbly timed six over cover off Shami. The southpaw attempted one too many-after pulling Yash Dayal for a stunning six over long leg and was caught in the deep. The additional bounce caused the mishit.
Buttler was joined in the middle by Samson (14 off 11), who started his innings with a clean square cut.
Hardik introduced the star spinner into the attack on the powerplay itself, knowing that Rajasthan’s right-handers struggle against him.
As Rajasthan reached 44 for one in the powerplay, Buttler and Samson elected to play it cautiously against Rashid.
Buttler, who was in fine form, opted to press the matter by driving Lockie Ferguson over the cover fielder and then cutting him for consecutive boundaries.
The New Zealander was putting on a show with a top speed of 157.3 kmph, the fastest ball of the event.
Hardik, Samson’s negative number, took him out on his second ball of the game; thus, he didn’t survive long. Rajasthan was reduced to 60 for two in 8.2 overs when Hardik struck the hard length, and Samson attempted the pull shot but was caught on the off-side.
Rajasthan’s woes were exacerbated when Devdutt Padikkal (2) needed eight balls to get off the mark, and Buttler both left within three balls of one other.
With Rajasthan aiming for a run a ball target after 14 overs, huge knocks were essential.
Hardik scored 94 for five by catching and bowling the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer.
All thoughts of a Rajasthan comeback were dashed when Ashwin died in the next over.
