GT suffered its fourth defeat of the season, its second against LSG. GT tried their best to chase down 236 target but fell short by 33 runs. Their bowling unit had a bad day, and the middle order was tested under pressure to chase a huge total, and they couldn’t deliver. Let’s look at the reasons for GT’s defeat.
Poor bowling plans against Mitchell Marsh
Mitchell Marsh comes from South Australia and has played all his childhood on the bouncy tracks. He is a very good player against short balls. But, GT bowlers kept on feeding him with the short-pitch deliveries. He got settled well and started to smash every bowler.
Even their prime spinner, Rashid Khan, bowled a half volley to Mitchell Marsh on the first delivery of his spell. The ball didn’t turn much and GT spinners Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore were not that effective on this pitch. Rashid went for 25 runs in his first over against Mitchell Marsh.
It’s been a long time since we have seen an overseas batter smashing Rashid Khan for fun. Reminds us of Shane Watson in 2018, where he smashed Rashid Khan in the finals.
Sai Kishore was tackled by Nicholas Pooran, and he didn’t allow him to settle in the crease. GT might have taken a gamble of using Shah Rukh Khan against Pooran, but they didn’t take that risk.
Poor Batting in the death
GT started the chase well, despite there is no big innings from the top 3. Two middle-order batters, Sharukh Khan and Sherfane Rutherfor,d operated well in the middle overs. GT were 96/3 in 9.3 overs and this partnership took it to 182/4 in 16.1 overs.
They paced the chase well and on par with LSG’s score at that time. But after the wicket of Sherfane Rutherford ( 38 off 22 ), the tables turned. They were in a commanding position of 182/3 after 16 overs, and William O’Rourke came to bowl his last over.
He gave just 4 runs in the 17th over and dismissed Rutherdord and Rahul Tewatia. This over changed the momentum towards LSG. He finished his spell with 4-27-3. He is the only fast bowler from LSG who gave a threat to the batters with his pace and bowling. That factor was missing with the LSG fast bowling unit this season.
GT could never recover from that over and bundled up for 202/9 in 20 overs. When you have such a huge scorecard, you just need one good spell from a bowler, and William O’Rourke delivered that.
Also Read:Â GT vs LSG : Records Galore After LSG Stun GT