Captain Hardik Pandya hit his second successive half-century in IPL 2022 and the fireworks came out of his bat at the right time that eventually helped Gujarat Titans record a comprehensive 37-run win over Rajasthan Royals at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Thursday.
The win took the newcomers to the top spot in the standings with eight points, while the Royals slipped to third.
Hardik’s unbeaten 87 off 52 balls, with assists from Abhinav Manohar (43) and David Miller (31 not out), propelled the Titans to 192 for 4 after they were put in to bat. The allrounder had made decent contributions with the bat in almost all the previous games, but his strike rate was an issue. On Thursday, though, Hardik made amends and connected well right from the onset after arriving at the crease at a tough situation with the Titans two wickets down for just 15 in the third over.
His bowlers then did their job well, limiting the Royals to 155 for 9.
With the ball too, Hardik struck once before leaving the field because of cramps, which he said later at the post-match presentation. But before that, Hardik struck with a superb direct hit to run his counterpart Sanju Samson out, which was equally crucial to the outcome of the game.
Jos Buttler (54), from whom Hardik had taken the Orange Cap (for most number of runs) away for a brief period, regained it in the very first over of the Royals reply, hitting Mohammed Shami for three boundaries. Buttler was in sublime form with his delightful strokes all across the ground, bringing up his 50 off just 23 balls with a lap shot off Lockie Ferguson that sailed over the fine-leg region for a maximum.
But Ferguson struck back immediately, bowling a yorker at a deceptive pace that castled Buttler. The in-form Shimron Hetmyer (29) tried for a while thereafter to bring the Royals’ chase back on track, but they just couldn’t recover from that body blow by Ferguson when he got rid of Buttler.
In the first ball of that same over, Ferguson had accounted for Ravichandran Ashwin who, promoted to No.3, departed after Miller took a blinder at short cover. On what was another batsmen-friendly surface, Ferguson stood out with the ball, varying his pace to great effect that made matters tougher for the Royals batsmen. Debutant left-arm quick Yash Dayal also did well to contribute for the Titans with his three scalps.
Incorrect strategy
Captain Sanju Samson’s decision to not bring either Ashwin or Yuzvendra Chahal earlier before Hardik was set certainly helped the Titans skipper. Hardik is known to be having issues against disciplined spin bowling, but the two Royals spinners came on to bowl only after he had settled down.
