Kolkata: The mighty Gutarat Titans (GT) of IPL 2022 enter the final over the excellent batting of David Miller (68 not out off 38) and skipper Hardik Pandya (40 not out off 27), beating Rajasthan Royals (RR) for seven wickets in the Qualifier 1 match in Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
The duo built an unbeaten partnership of 106 runs in the fourth wicket which made way to GT's entrance to the final, while Jos Buttler's power-hitting 89 off 56 and Sanju Samson's 47 off 26 went in vain.
Sanju's squad were sent to bat first, and they built 188/6 in 20 overs, but Gujarat met the target sparing three balls in Prasidh Krishna-bowled final over. The unfortunate Prasdih was hit for three consecutive sixes by Miller to seal the match in GT's favour.
In the first innings, RR lost young opener Yashavi Jaiswal (8 off 3) in the second over. But Sanju, who took crease next, looked threatening from the start itself, hitting the first ball a six. While Buttler kept his temper, Sanju scored boundaries in regular intervals, proving that he was in good touch.
But Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore worked with the ball and pulled down the run rate for Gujarat with their spin spell. Trying to deal with the falling run rate, Sanju fell in the 10th over while he was at 47.
Devdutt Padikal, who came next, continued Sanju's path, hitting two sixes in an over. Then skipper Pandya took Padikkal out. Later, opener Buttler came to the fore, leading the team while luck also played in his favour. He was dropped twice, and GT committed misfields too. With his effort, Rajasthan scored 60 runs in the last four overs.
Chasing RR, Gujarat lost opener Wriddiman Saha for a duck in Trend Boult's delivery. But that didn't affect the team's spirit as Shubman Gill and Matthew Wade sent balls all around the field, leading their team to 64/1 within the powerplay. In the onslaught, senior spinner Ravichandran Ashwin got hit for 17 runs in his first over. Aggressive Gill, however, got run out in a terrible mixup. It took RRs Yuzvendra Chahal to mop up runs flow, and Wade also fell in Obed McCoy's delivery. However, McCoy went expensive that over, conceding 18 runs in that over.
But Hardik and Miller each hit a boundary off Ashwin later, and the spinner ended his spell conceding an unfortunate total of 40 runs. Later, keeping the asking rate in reins, Gujarat went forward as Miller hit Chahal over the boundary. Miller hit Chahal again for six and McCoy for a boundary, completing a half-century off 32 balls. When 16 was required from the last over, Miller hit Prasidh of hattrick sixes to win the match.
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 188/6 in 20 Overs (Jos Buttler 89, Sanju Samson 47; Hardik Pandya 1/14) lost to Gujarat Titans 191/3 in 19.3 Overs (David Miller 68 not out, Hardik Pandya 40 not out; Trent Boult 1/38) by seven wickets.