New Delhi: A sensational bowling spell from Mohammed Shami (3/15), following a great finishing act from Rahul Tewatia (24-balls 40 runs) and Abhivav Manohar (7-balls 15 runs) helped Gujarat Titans beat Lucknow Super Giants by five wickets to win the last-over thriller at Mumbai's Wankhede Stadium on Monday. Lucknow bowlers bowled their hearts out but it was not enough to stop the GT batters, on a ground with short boundaries, fast outfield and dew, from getting a win in their IPL debut game.
Chasing an under-par 159-run target, Gujarat lost early wickets in initial overs but skipper Hardik Pandya's (28-balls 33 runs) short but hard-fought knock, along with solid 57-run stand with Matthew Wade (30), steadied his team's sinking ship. However, his brother Krunal, the standout bowler, departed him to instantly shift the momentum towards Lucknow. Gujarat were in big trouble after Wade's exit as the scoreboard read 78/4, but Miller and Tewatia pulled their team back into the game.
After this, the other LSG bowlers gave away a lot of runs. It was the 17th over by young Ravi Bishnoi that took the game away from Lucknow.
Earlier, GT skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and invited Gujarat to bat first. Deepak Hooda and young Ayush Badoni scored fifties to lift their team to a respectable 158-run total. It was a super recovery from the duo as Shami had rocked their batting lineup to leave them reeling at 32/4 in just 6 overs.
GT playing XI: Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade (wk), Vijay Shankar, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami
LSG playing XI: KL Rahul (c), Quinton de Kock (wk), Evin Lewis, Manish Pandey, Deepak Hooda, Krunal Pandya, Mohsin Khan, Ayush Badoni, Dushmantha Chameera, Ravi Bishnoi, Avesh Khan