Ahmedabad, May 29: Nobody gave them a chance but Gujarat Titans, bucking all pre-tournament predictions, surprised everyone by lifting the Indian Premier League title in a dream maiden season after a seven-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in the final, here on Sunday.
Gujarat’s highly-rated bowling attack, led by skipper Hardik Pandya (3/17) himself, limited a formidable Rajasthan Royals batting unit to 130 for nine after losing the toss.
Shubman Gill and David Miller remained unbeaten on 45 and 32, respectively, to complete an emphatic win for their team.
It should have been a comfortable chase but Rajasthan bowled their hearts out to make it an interesting final.
Not many gave Gujarat a chance in their first season especially after a mixed auction where they waited till the end to secure the services of wicketkeepers Wriddhiman Saha and Matthew Wade.
Hardik’s performance with bat and ball contributed immensely to the team’s triumph besides the ability to bounce back from any situation through the brilliance of Miller and Rahul Tewatia.
The pace duo of Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna were brilliant in the powerplay, reducing Gujarat to 31 for two with Wriddhiman Saha (5) and Matthew Wade (8) back in the dugout.
Krishna got one to seam back in from good length to breach Saha’s defence and crash into the stumps.
Boult, who also bowled a maiden over in his tidy spell, removed Wade. Gujarat would have been three down in the powerplay if Purple Cap winner Yuzvendra Chahal (27 wickets in 17 matches) held on to a simple catch of Gill off Boult in the first over of the innings.
Hardik and Gill struggled to get the boundaries but never felt extreme pressure as the asking rate remained very much in control.
R Ashwin was introduced in the 12th over and Hardik (34 off 30) decided to go after him, collecting a four and six off successive balls to bring up the 50-run stand with Gill and take Gujarat to 77 for two in 12 overs.
The skipper fell to a brilliant leg break from Chahal but Gill and Miller got the job done in the end. The entire stadium, housing more than a lakh people, erupted when Gill hit the winning six.
Earlier, Hardik (3/17) struck thrice in his four overs while Rashid Khan (1/18) delivered yet again on the big stage to put their team on course for a title in its debut season.
Gujarat bowlers were able to maintain the pressure on the opposition though Orange Cap winner Jos Buttler (39 of 35) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (22 off 16) tried their best to break free. After pulling Yash Dayal for a massive six over long leg, Jaiswal tried one too many and was caught in the deep.
Buttler, total of 863 runs in 17 matches, was joined by Samson (14 off 11) in the middle.
The in-form Buttler decided to force the issue as he drove Lockie Ferguson over the cover fielder before cutting him for successive boundaries. The New Zealander went on to clock 157.3 kmph, the fastest ball of the tournament.
Samson did not last long as his opposite number Hardik removed him on his second ball of the game. Hardik hit the hard length and Samson went for the pull shot only to be caught on the off-side, leaving Rajasthan at 60 for two in 8.2 overs.
Rajasthan’s struggles worsened when Devdutt Padikkal (2), who took eight balls to get off the mark, and Buttler departed in a space of three balls. Hardik made it 94 for five by having Shimron Hetmyer caught and bowled. Ashwin perished in the following over, ending all hopes of a Rajasthan fight. (PTI)
