IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya, David Miller take Gujarat Titans to final

KOLKATA: Debutant Gujarat Titans reached the title clash of the IPL 2022 as they beat Rajasthan Royals by 7 wickets in Qualifier 1 at iconic Eden Gardens, here on Tuesday.

Chasing 189 runs to win, they reached the target with three balls to go losing 3 wickets with the help of unbeaten 106 runs partnership in 60 balls between captain Hardik Pandya and David Miller. After losing Wridhiman Saha in the first over of Trent Boult, Shubman Gill (35 runs off 21 balls) and Matthew Wade (35 runs off 30 balls) added 72 runs in 44 balls to build the foundation. After their exit, Pandya and Miller took the charge and successfully reached the target. Captain Pandya managed 40 runs from 27 balls while South African left hander Miller, who hit three back to back sixes in the final over bowled by Prasidh Krishna, struck terrific 68 runs from 38 balls with 5 sixes.

Earlier, a fighting fifty by Jos Buttler (89 off 56) and Sanju Samson's attacking knock (47 off 26) powered Rajasthan Royals to 188/6.

Apart from Buttler and Samson, Devdutt Padikkal (28 off 20) also made a valuable contribution with the bat for Rajasthan, after being invited to bat first.

Put into bat first, Rajasthan lost the wicket of Yashasvi Jaiswal in the last ball of the 2nd over of the innings. Jaiswal, after a painful 8-ball 3, nicked a wide Yash Dayal delivery through to the keeper and then walked despite the umpire not hearing anything.

Skipper Sanju Samson, who came to bat next, got off the mark in style, hitting six off the very first ball he faced in this innings. The stylish batter was in fine touch and kept hitting boundaries at regular intervals. Watching his batting partner bat with positive intent, Jos Buttler was happy to play second fiddle as Rajasthan finished the powerplay with 55/1.

However, Gujarat spinners -- Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore pulled things back for their team as they bowled the next three overs with discipline.

Overall, the last 4 overs produced 60 runs as Rajasthan Royals finished with 188-6 on the board. Hardik Pandya (1/14), Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore (1/43), Mohammed Shami (1/43) and Yash Dayal (1/46) were the wicket-takers for Gujarat Titans.

Rajasthan Royals have to play Qualifier 2 on Friday against the winner of Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants.

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 188/6 in 20 Overs (Jos Buttler 89, Sanju Samson 47; Hardik Pandya 1/14) lost to Gujarat Titans 191/3 in 19.3 overs (David Miller 68no, Hardik Pandya 40no, Wade 35, Gill 35, Boult 1/38).

Also Read: IPL 2022: Debutants Gujarat Titans face off against Rajasthan Royals in direct ticket to final

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