Gujarat Titans, playing their maiden season of the Indian Premier League, were clinical this summer. They finished on top of the points table after winning 10 of their 14 matches and then defeated Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 to book a spot in the final.
In the title clash, Gujarat Titans were the much better team after Hardik Pandya led from the front. GT lost two early wickets but Hardik stitched a 63-run stand with top-scorer Shubman Gill (45 not out) to steer his side to victory in the final and wear the champions' crown. David Miller, who was one of the heroes for GT in a successful campaign, remained unbeaten on 32.
Hardik was sensational with the ball, taking 3 for 17 off 4 overs to destroy the Rajasthan Royals batting line-up. He picked the key wickets of Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer to keep them to 130 for 9 off 20 overs.
Rashid Khan was brilliant once again. He was difficult to get away on a slow pitch and finished with 1 for 18 off his four overs. Sai Kishore also picked two wickets as GT rounded off a clinical performance with the ball.
Chasing 131 for an IPL trophy in their debut season, the Titans got off to a poor start when Prasidh Krishna removed Wriddhiman Saha for 5 off 7 balls. Saha has had a good time with GT this summer but he failed in the playoffs - in Qualifier 2, he had been dismissed for a duck.
Matthew Wade was sent back by Trent Boult for 8 off 10 balls before Hardik Pandya, basking in the glory of his bowling heroics, walked in to join Shubman Gill. The two men steadied the GT innings with a solid partnership for the 3rd wicket as GT sought triumph in a packed stadium in Ahmedabad.
Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya added 63 for the 2nd wicket before Yuzvendra Chahal removed the Gujarat Titans captain for 34 off 30 balls. Pandya's innings was punctuated with 3 fours and 1 six in what was a true captain's knock.
The pair was calm even after losing two early wickets and backed themselves to rotate the strike and punish the bad balls in a partnership which dashed RR's hopes of a second IPL triumph.
After Hardik's dismissal, Shubman was joined by David Miller and both batters took Gujarat Titans across the finish line to mark jubilant celebrations at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
It was a fitting end to GT's sensational campaign. Hardik has been phenomenal as leader and an ace all-rounder while Shubman Gill, who top-scored for the champions on Sunday, has been brilliant at the top.
David Miller, who was by Gill's side, played his role as finisher perfectly game after game as GT finished on top of the points table and then played another important knock in Qualifier 1 to seal their berth in the final.
After Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson won the toss and decided to bat, Hardik broke the back of RR's batting line-up with the wickets of Sanju, IPL 2022 Orange Cap winner Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer. Hardik finished with figures of 3 for 17 off 4 overs, rocking the Royals who would have targeted more than their eventual 130 for 9 off 20 overs.
Yash Dayal gave the Titans their first breakthrough when he dismissed Yashasvi Jaiswal for a 16-ball 22 in the fourth over of the innings. And then Hardik Pandya got to work.
In his first over, Hardik struck to remove his RR counterpart Sanju for 14 off 11 balls before removing RR top-scorer Buttler for 39 and the dangerous Hetmyer who managed only 11 off 12 balls.
