GT on May 10 became the first team to qualify for the playoffs of Indian Premier League 2022, beating LSG with a heavy margin of 62 runs in a low-scoring game in Pune. The Titans bundled out the opposition for just 82 in the run-chase after making a modest score of 144/4 in the first half themselves.
On a two-paced track where pacers enjoyed steep bounce at times while the spinners got it to bite and turn sharply, batters from both sides struggled for flow and timing. But the Titans had less of an issue with the surface, posting what would’ve been an insignificant score on a truer batting deck.
Yet, it was the bowlers that tilted the scales decisively in their favour, not letting the Lucknow batters settle down at any point of the run-chase. LSG lost wickets at regular intervals, be it against the spinners or the quicks, and could never make a strong push at the 145-run target.
On a reasonably challenging surface, they needed their two stand-out batters Quinton de Kock (11) and skipper KL Rahul (8) to guide them through the second half. But both the openers fell early to some high-quality fast-bowling from left-arm pacer Yash Dayal and his senior Indian partner Mohammad Shami.
Shami was nearly unplayable through his three-over burst and conceded only five runs while taking the prized scalp of Rahul, whom he bounced out on an attempted pull, which the right-hander could only top-edge to the keeper. Dayal added one more scalp to his kitty to end with figures of two for 24.
Once the pacers had put LSG under a lot of pressure, it was time for GT’s wristspinner Rashid Khan to get into his act. Easily the world’s most difficult bowler to get away and score boundaries of, Rashid relished Lucknow batters coming at him and got a four-fer (4/24) that basically made it a no-contest.
Debutant left-arm spinner Sai Kishore put the finishing touches to Titans’ magnificent bowling performance with two wickets for just seven runs.
In a sorry-looking scorecard, only two LSG batters made it past the double digits, while No.3 Deepak Hooda’s 26-ball 27 proved to be the highest score of an innings that lasted less than 14 overs, providing for one of the earliest finishes to an IPL game this season.
LSG had a more fruitful day with the ball in hand. They restricted the Titans to what looked like a manageable score at the time, with young left-arm pacer Mohsin Khan emerging as their stand-out bowler. Mohsin, whose ability to nail the hard lengths with the left-arm angle has been a revelation in IPL 2022, ended with figures of 1/18 off his 4 overs.
Fellow pacer Avesh Khan (2/26), too, bowled a superb spell on the night but Mohsin caught the limelight for just how impeccable he looked, with no Titans batter feeling comfortable facing the in-form speedster. He has now taken 10 wickets from just six games for LSG so far, averaging just 10.90 while going for 5.19 an over.
That Titans could make it past the 140-mark despite Mohsin’s spell had a lot to do with a sedate batting effort from opener Shubman Gill, who stood his ground amidst a flurry of wickets and made a critical 63 not out off 49 deliveries. The only other Titans batter to find some flow to his innings was No.6 Rahul Tewatia (22*).
Brief scores
Gujarat Titans 144/4 in 20 overs (Gill 63*; Khan 2/26, Khan 1/18) beat Lucknow Super Giants 82/10 in 13.5 overs (Hooda 27; Khan 4/24, Kishore 2/7) by 62 runs
