Gujarat Titans won the Indian Premier League at their first attempt on Sunday with all-rounder Hardik Pandya leading his team to a resounding seven-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in the final.
Pandya grabbed three for 17 with a flawless medium speed bowling to restrict Rajasthan to 130 for nine after Sanju Samson won the toss and chose to bat. Pandya then made a crucial 34-for-30 ball as Gujarat went 133 from three in 18.1 overs in front of a raucous crowd of over 100,000 at Narendra Modi Stadium.
Leading off batter Shubman Gill scored the most with an unbeaten 45 and sealed the memorable victory with a six off Obed McCoy over deep square leg. “This title is going to be special because we talk about creating a legacy and the next generations will talk about it,” said Pandya, who won four IPL titles with the Mumbai Indians but switched franchises this year and was named captain of Gujarat.
“This is the right example for all the teams in the world that if you can play as a team, you can do wonders.”
Pandya’s superb bowling in the intervals was well supported by Afghan Rashid Khan and derailed Rajasthan’s bid for a second IPL title since winning the inaugural edition in 2008.
Jos Buttler made just 39 of 35 balls, but still finished as the tournament’s leading scorer with 863 runs, with Samson scoring 14. Both batsmen fell to Pandya. Samson tried to pick up the scoring pace and was caught off the third man on Pandya’s second ball.
Buttler, who scored four hundredths and four half-hundredths this season, gained a slight advantage when he tried to guide a short ball to the third man. The Gujarat skipper then made sure that Rajasthan had no power hitters in death overs.
Pandya had Shimron Hetmyer (11) catch his own bowling pitch on the last ball of an excellent four spell. Trent Boult and this season’s leading wicket-taker Yuzvendra Chahal bowled well for Rajasthan, but Pandya carefully negotiated the middle positions by combining into a 63-run position with Gill for the third wicket.
“Batting comes first for me, it has always been close to my heart,” said player of the match Pandya after hitting three bounds and a six on his stroke at No. 4. “When the IPL auction ended, I knew that I would. I have to hit at number 4.”
Chahal finished with 27 wickets in the tournament when Pandya got caught in slips on the 14th. But Gujarat’s depth in middle-order batting (the team topped the table with 20 points from 10 wins during the league stage) brought home. David Miller (32 not out) and Gill comfortably carried tournament newcomers to the winning target.
Samson from Rajasthan saw some positives despite the loss. “This season is really special for us, we have been able to play good cricket and given the fans some happy moments,” he said, adding that his team had a bad day in the final. “All the young and old played well as a team, I am proud of my team. We believe that quality bowlers make you win the tournament, so we invest in them…but there is a lot to learn.”
Reference-www.theguardian.com