Last season’s Purple Cap holder Prasidh Krishna stood tall and performed under pressure as his 4-wicket haul went a long way in helping GT upstage LSG in Lucknow. Prasidh Krishna executed his plans to perfection and never allowed LSG to get away to a big total. There were lots of starts by the LSG batters, but nobody passed 30 as Aiden Markram was the top-scorer as LSG made 164/8 in 20 overs with Krishna picking up 4 wickets. Ashok Sharma got a couple of wickets, while Siraj also chipped in with a good spell.
In reply, GT rode on half-centuries from captain Shubman Gill and keeper batter Jos Buttler as they scored chanceless half-centuries while Washington Sundar finished things off for GT towards the end, and Rahul Tewatia was there with him as GT got over the line by 7 wickets with 8 balls to spare. Mohammed Shami, Prince Yadav, and Digvesh Rathi picked up a wicket apiece, but it was not enough as GT got themselves back on track this season.
Prasidh Krishna’s 4-wicket haul restricts LSG to 164/8
Put into bat first, Aiden Markram and Mitchell Marsh came out to bat for LSG while Mohammed Siraj had the ball in hand for GT. The openers tried to get off the blocks and put on 14 inside the first two overs before Marsh fell for 11 off 4 balls with one four and one six to his name to Kagiso Rabada. Captain and keeper batter Rishabh Pant came out to bat next. Markram took the attack to the opposition, and Pant too played his shots as well.
The duo tried to forge a partnership of note and added 31 runs for the second wicket before Pant fell for 18 off 11 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name to Siraj. Ayush Badoni came out to bat next. At the end of the power play, LSG were 60/2 in 6 overs. The duo of Markram and Badoni put on 24 for the third wicket before Markram fell for 30 off 21 balls with 5 fours and one six to his name to Krishna.
Nicholas Pooran came out to bat next. Badoni too fell soon, as just 5 runs were added to the tally before he fell for 9 off 11 balls with one four to his name to Krishna. Abdul Samad came out to bat next at 74/4 in 8.2 overs. The duo tried to forge another partnership to bring LSG back into the game. Pooran hit a couple of sixes off Rashid Khan to get himself going as he was playing a scratchy innings out there. The duo added 35 runs for the 5th wicket before Pooran fell for 19 off 21 balls with 2 sixes to his name to Krishna. In Mukul Choudhary’s last match, the hero came out to bat next.
Samad and Mukul could add just 9 runs to the tally before Samad fell for a struggling 18 off 22 balls with 2 fours to his name to Ashok Sharma. Impact Player George Linde came out to bat next. Linde and Mukul hit some lusty blows in the death phase of the game. The duo managed to add 13 runs for the 7th wicket before Mukul fell for 18 off 14 balls with one four and one six to his name to Krishna yet again. Mohammed Shami came out to bat next to join Linde in the middle.
Shami came and played some lovely shots as well. Linde was using the long handle, as LSG had no choice but to go big now. The duo added 26 crucial runs in quick time for the 8th wicket before Linde fell for 16 off 10 balls with 3 fours to his name to Ashok Sharma. Avesh Khan came out to bat next and got off the mark with a boundary.
The duo of Shami and Avesh added 7 runs unbeaten for the 9th wicket before LSG ended with a competitive 164/8 in 20 overs. Shami was unbeaten on 12 off 5 balls while Avesh was unbeaten on 4 off 1 ball. 9 extras given by the fielding side.
GT bowlers bowled really well out there. Prasidh Krishna was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 4/28 in 4 overs. Ashok Sharma chipped in with 2/32 in 4 overs. Mohammed Siraj finished with 1/19 in 4 overs. Kagiso Rabada finished with 1/54 in 4 overs. Rashid Khan finished with excellent figures of 0/25 in 4 overs. This meant that GT needed 165 to win the contest in 20 overs.
Jos Buttler and Shubman Gill’s fifties guided GT over the line
Chasing 165 for the win, Sai Sudharsan and captain Shubman Gill came out to bat for GT. Mohammed Shami had the ball in hand for LSG. The openers gave GT a steady start. For the initial overs, it was steady before they upped the ante and put on 45 runs for the first wicket. GT, thanks mainly to Gill’s efforts, got the score to 45 in 5 overs. The duo put on 45 runs for the first wicket before Sudharsan fell for 15 off 14 balls with 3 fours to his name to Digvesh Rathi.
Keeper batter Jos Buttler came out to bat in the final over of the powerplay. The powerplay score was 52/1 in 6 overs for the GT. The duo of Gill and Buttler played through the innings without any asking rate pressure and were steady throughout. Buttler accelerated while Gill played his natural game, as he often does. This chase was tailor-made for the Gill-Butler duo. They played through the middle phase and notched up their respective 50s.
The duo put on a match-winning 84-run stand off 58 balls, with Buttler being the dominant partner. With the score at 129, Gill fell for 56 off 40 balls with 6 fours and one six to his name to Prince Yadav. Washington Sundar came out to bat at 4. Just 6 runs were added to the tally before Buttler, the set batter, fell for 60 off 37 balls with 11 fours to his name to Shami. Rahul Tewatia came out to the middle with GT needing 30 more runs for the win.
The duo of Sundar and Tewatia made sure there were no more hiccups and added the remaining 30 runs with ease, with Sundar scoring the bulk of the runs. The Gujarat Titans eventually got over the line in 18.4 overs. Sundar was unbeaten on 21 off 13 balls with 2 fours and one six to his name, while Tewatia finished with an unbeaten 10 off 8 balls with one four to his name. 3 extras given by LSG as GT got over the line, getting to 165/3 with 8 balls left.
LSG had a mixed day with the ball in hand. Digvesh Rathi finished with 1/31 in 4 overs. Prince Yadav finished with 1/31 in 4 overs. Mohammed Shami finished with 1/36 in 4 overs. Impact Player George Linde finished with 0/28 in 3 overs. Avesh Khan finished with 0/24 in 2 overs. Aiden Markram finished with 0/15 in 1.4 overs. So, the Gujarat Titans win by 7 wickets with 8 balls to spare to get their second win in a row this season. Prasidh Krishna was awarded the Player of the Match award.
What Lies Ahead
Gujarat Titans are back on track with two consecutive wins, while LSG have been given a rude wake-up call with this loss. They will be back in action in the upcoming week. The MI vs RCB game is the next game to be played in Mumbai, with both power-packed batting line-ups against each other. Let’s see how things unfold in that game in Mumbai.
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