New Delhi: A hard-fought hundred-run partnership between Hardik Pandya (27-ball 40) and David Miller (38-ball 68) powered debutant Gujarat Titans to their first-ever IPL final on Tuesday. Gujarat Titans chased down the 189-run target in 19.3 overs to beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at Kolkata's iconic Eden Gardens. Things got pretty tight for Gujarat when they lost quick wickets during the chase but Pandya and Miller batted beautifully to steady GT's sinking ship, and snatch the momentum back from RR. The match result was difficult to predict till the very last over and it was then when Miller unleashed beat mode to hit consecutive sixes to take his team home with a superb knock.
Earlier, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to bowl first. Rajasthan was off to a poor start as they sustained their first blow in form of Jaiswal when the scoreboard read just 11 runs. After the early blow, captain Sanju Samson and Jos Buttler took Rajasthan to a strong position. Butler played a slow inning but went on to notch up his fourth half-century of the season to power Rajasthan to 188/6. Samson contributed with a quick 26-ball 47 runs.
Jos Buttler scored the 15th fifty of his IPL career. He completed his half-century in 42 balls with the help of 8 fours. Buttler played brilliant innings of 89 runs in 56 balls with the help of 12 fours and two sixes. During this, he scored runs at a remarkable average of 158.93.
This was the first time Buttler played more than 40 deliveries and did not hit a single six. He was close to getting out at one point, but Hardik Pandya dropped his catch at long-on in the second ball of the 17th over, and the ball went over his head for a boundary. Butler took advantage of this and kept the scoreboard ticking. After Hardik, Rashid too dropped Butler's catch in the 19th over.
Buttler hit his first six of the match in the last ball of the 19th over when he hit Mohammed Shami for a huge six over his head. With this six, he also completed his 700 runs in IPL 2022. The England opener then hit the third ball of the last over for a six and took Rajasthan to a respectable 180. He was run out on the last ball of RR's innings, that was a no-ball. Rajasthan scored 15 runs in the last over to to their team to 188/6.
Gujarat Titans Playing XI: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami
Rajasthan Royals playing XI: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c & wk), Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCoy