Gujarat Titans Enter into IPL 2022 Final for the First Time
Hardik Pandya’s (27-ball 40) and David Miller’s (38-ball 68) hundred-run stand propelled Gujarat Titans to their first-ever IPL final on Tuesday. Gujarat Titans beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at Kolkata’s legendary Eden Gardens, chasing down the 189-run mark in 19.3 overs. When Gujarat lost quick wickets during the chase, things got tight, but Pandya and Miller batted wonderfully to calm GT’s sinking ship and reclaim the momentum from RR. The match result was impossible to predict until the very last over, when Miller went into beat mode and hammered consecutive sixes to help his team to victory.
Hardik Pandya, the captain of the Gujarat Titans, had won the toss and elected to bowl first. Rajasthan got off to a bad start as Jaiswal suffered his first blow when the scoreboard read just 11 runs. Rajasthan took a strong position after the early blow, thanks to captain Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler. Butler had a difficult start but went on to score his fourth half-century of the season, leading Rajasthan to a total of 188/6. Samson contributed with a rapid 47 runs in 26 balls.
Jos Buttler has now struck 15 fiftys in the IPL. With the help of eight fours, he reached his half-century in 42 balls. Buttler batted brilliantly, scoring 89 runs in 56 balls with 12 fours and two sixes. During this time, he batted 158.93 percent of the time.
Buttler did not hit a single six in more than 40 deliveries for the first time in his career. He was on the verge of being dismissed when Hardik Pandya lost his catch at long-on in the 17th over, and the ball flew over his head for a boundary. Butler took advantage of the situation and kept the game alive. In the 19th over, Rashid, like Hardik, dropped Butler’s catch.
Buttler got his first six of the match as he smacked Mohammed Shami for a stunning six over his head with the penultimate ball of the 19th over. He also reached 700 runs in IPL 2022 with this six. Rajasthan reached 180 when the England opener hammered the third ball of the final over for a six. On the last pitch of RR’s innings, a no-ball, he was run out. Rajasthan scored 15 runs in the final over to reach 188/6.
In last over of the match, GT were requiring 16 runs to win and David Miller was on the strike. The ball was in the hands of Prasidh Krishna.
The killer Miller hit 3 consecutive sixers to Prasidh Krishna and sealed the match and entered into Final of IPL 2022 for the first time.
GT is playing the IPL for the first time and has not only won the matches but also have won millions of hearts of cricket-loving fans.