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Gujarat Titans reign supreme with IPL title on debut
Skipper Hardik Pandya removes Buttler, Samson and Hetmyer to peg back Rajasthan Royals before the home team ease to a seven-wicket victory in Ahmedabad in a memorable first season
Hardik Pandya knows how to own a big stage. And there can be few stages that are bigger than leading an IPL team in the final in their home city. Pandya was captaining his side in the final in Titans’ debut season as well. It also happened to be GT’s first match at home, in the world’s biggest cricket stadium in front of packed stands with who’s who in the Indian cricket community present. The occasion can unnerve even the most seasoned captains. Pandya though walked out confidently, a picture of calm, as if he was playing just another game.
It was anything but. On a historic day for his Gujarat Titans, Pandya prized out Rajasthan Royals’ three best batters to restrict them to a below-par 130/9, helping his team ease to a seven-wicket victory before celebrating fans.
In a beautiful exhibition of pace bowling, the Titans skipper bowled four overs on the trot for just 17 runs, removing rival skipper Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer to break the Royals’ innings. Leg-spinner Rashid Khan was again brilliant. He built pressure with a spell of 4-0-18-0.
To the delight of the vociferous crowd at Motera’s Narendra Modi International Stadium, Pandya also dug in with the bat at the start of a challenging chase, scoring a composed 34 off 30 balls. Opener Wriddhiman Saha was bowled by Prasidh Krishna in the second over and when Matthew Wade hit to Riyan Parag at short midwicket after the ball stopped on him, Pandya was in at 25/2 after five overs. After six, Titans were 31/2.
Pandya soaked in the pressure and when he fell at the total of 86 in the 14th over, Titans needed 45 off 40 balls. David Miller (32* off 19 balls), and Shubman Gill (45* of 43 balls), who was dropped twice, took Titans home in 18.1 overs.
BUTTLER WICKET
The Gujarat Titans captain knew that till Buttler was there, anything could happen. The RR opener had showed that in the first game when he huffed and puffed to 17 overs before going berserk to finish with 89 runs. Here too, he was building towards that.
Rashid was Buttler’s match-up. The leg-spinner, who seldom bowls in the powerplay, was on in the sixth over to put pressure on the orange cap holder. But the England player was watchful. After eight overs, it was 59/1 with two overs of Rashid bowled. With wickets not coming, Pandya came on in the 9th over. In a dream start, he struck second ball to dismiss Samson. Pandya hit an in-between length outside off and Samson shaped for the pull, only to sky it to Sai Kishore, who took a running catch at short third man.
The crowd got right behind their team. It was an excellent first over, which went for just one run.
The role of the other Royals batter was to shield their star opener from the pressure of strike rate. Buttler was to be allowed to bat at his pace, wait for the right ball, and not risk too much. They knew the damage he could cause.
On the other hand, Gujarat Titans were gunning for his wicket. Pandya brought on Shami for the 10th over, his third. It didn’t pay off. Buttler helped himself to two fours and moved to 34 (29 balls). After 10 overs, it was level with Royals on 71/2. It was cat and mouse stuff. Buttler was still there while Titans’ main strike bowler, Shami’s three overs had been exhausted at 3-0-26-0.
All eyes were on Pandya versus Buttler now. The Royals star knew any runs than singles off Khan would be a bonus. They had to attack the other bowlers. But here Pandya was doing a good job, making it difficult for Buttler. In the second over also he gave nothing away. Just four runs came of it, only three from the bat, one was a leg bye as new batter Devdutt Padikkal played out three balls without scoring a run. Royals moved to 75/1.
The pressure was relentless. Padikkal tried to make room and cut Rashid, only offering a simple catch to backward point.
The England opener had done well to weather the early pressure. He was not taking risks and had played out the first 12 overs, moving to 39. On the first ball of the 13th over, Pandya brought the roof down. With a perfect release, he landed the ball on the seam at short of length and hit the perfect line to induce an edge off Buttler’s blade. As the home crowd broke into deafening celebration, the star opener made the slow walk to the dugout shaking his head in disbelief.
With that strike, Titans had seized the momentum. The run rate was down to 6.31. Royals hopes now rested on Hetmyer. The left-hander got 10 runs off the first five balls of Pandya’s final over, but was out on the final ball, offering a return catch to the star all-rounder.
