As it happened - Gujarat Titans vs Lucknow Super Giants, IPL 2022
By Sidharth Monga and Deivarayan MuthuGood night, and good luck
Mohammed Shami bowled a killer new-ball spell, Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni then fought back for LSG, Dushmantha Chameera and Krunal Pandya kept them fighting with the ball, but in the end, the wet ball and the calm of Rahul Tewatia proved to be too good. All four matches so far have been won by the sides chasing. GT's five sixes and 18 fours trump LSG's five sixes and 17 fours. That's all we have for you today. See you tomorrow.
6
6
6
3
Manohar and Tewatia see Titans through
Ten to defend in the last over with a wet ball proves to be a bit too much for Avesh Khan. Manohar pulls him and then punches him for successive fours to all but end the game, and Tewatia provides the finishing touch with a four. He punches the air, and points to the Titans crest on his shirt. Titans win with two balls to spare.
3
3
2
1
Avesh, Chameera bring LSG back
Avesh Khan goes for nine runs in the 18th and takes David Miller out. Dushmantha Chameera bowls the 19th for nine. Now we have 11 off 6, and Tewatia is not on strike. Abhinav Manohar is.
3
3
2
1
Bishnoi taken down too
New teams, new roles. Ravi Bishnoi came into this tournament having bowled just three overs at the death in his IPL career. In his first match with a new team, he finds himself bowling the 17th over. What's in his favour is two left-hand batters, a match-up he likes. Rahul Tewatia, though, puts him off with a reverse-swept six first ball and then follows it with two fours with regulation sweeps.
6
1
1
1w
4
4
•
4
9
2
6
Over 16 changes it up
1
6
4
1
4
6
Hooda started this over with figures of 2-0-9-1, and had two left-hand batters at the wicket, but with the wet ball not turning, both of them have taken him apart with sweeps and slogs. Forty-six off 24 now.
7
9
5
6
Thirty-three balls without a boundary
We go into the last five overs with no boundary having been hit in the last 33 balls. The last 11 overs have produced just 56 runs. And this is with the wet ball. Krunal, Bishnoi and Hooda have bowled superbly to take it beyond two a ball for the last five overs.
3
1
2
4
Krunal 1, Hardik 0
Eight balls, six runs, and he has got his younger brother. After denying him flight all the while, he tosses one up slightly wide and Hardik looks to clear long-off. He is not close to its pitch, and holes out to long-off. No celebration from Krunal, who covers his mouth with his hands. GT 72 for 3 in 10.1.
4
11
5
4
Pandya vs Pandya
They must have gone at each other in the nets and in the gullies a million times but this is the first time Krunal Pandya has ever bowled to Hardik Pandya in an actual official match. And in the first over, Hardik has accorded due respect to big brother, taking just one run off five balls. GT 46 for 2 in seven overs.
4
5
7
2
A little background on Badoni
The first thing Harsha Bhogle asked him in the mid-match interview was, where have you been hiding. It was, of course, a valid question. Just eight runs to his name in T20 cricket and no List A or first-class cricket under his belt, the 22-year-old comes in and scores a fifty during which he, among other things, hits Rashid Khan for a six. So where had he been hiding?
"How do I answer that question?" Badoni said. How can a 22-year-old answer that?
Those who follow Delhi cricket ask the same question: why has he not played more games for Delhi after impressing at India Under-19, scoring an unbeaten 185 in a youth Test against Sri Lanka Under-19 and also scoring a 28-ball 52 in the Asia Cup final? A video of his hitting during that innings can be found on Twitter. He comes from the same stable as Rishabh Pant, Tarak Sinha's Sonnet club.
Enter Gautam Gambhir, the mentor at Lucknow Super Giants. He is a leader who backs his instinct, somebody who has brought players from outside Delhi to Delhi and has fought the establishment for them. And Badoni is not just picked up, but given a game in the first match and sent in ahead of Krunal Pandya.
That’s just how Delhi cricket is.
4
3
8
6
Enter captain Pandya
Hardik Pandya has already bowled out earlier on the night, and is now batting at No. 4. In doing so, he has walked to the crease in the third over, his earliest point of entry since the 2016 IPL, which is when he batted at No. 3 occasionally. A complete change of roles for him from being a specialist end-overs hitter at Mumbai Indians. He has raced away to 15 off 9. GT 35 for 2 in four overs.
1
4
2
5
Chameera rips out a pole
The Sri Lankans are back and relevant to the IPL. Dushmantha Chameera's first strike was a bit of a T20 thing with Gill jumping out to a length ball, but he has properly set Vijay Shankar up. Pushing him back with hard lengths, he starts a fresh over with a searing yorker at the base of the off stumps. Shankar is caught back, and the ball squeezes under his bat. GT 15 for 2 in 2.1 overs.
5
13
11
5
Hooda hugs Krunal
That's what IPL does. The two had a bitter falling out when playing for Baroda, but now fate has put them in the same team and fielding next to each other at backward point and cover-point. Third ball of the chase, Shubman Gill skies on to Hooda, and Krunal is there next to him should there be a rebound. And then the two embrace. Gujarat Titans 4 for 1.
1
8
3
Badoni, Krunal haul LSG to 158
Shami was unplayable at various points in the powerplay, giving up just ten runs in his first three overs for three wickets. Krunal, however, hits three fours off Shami in his last over, which costs 15 runs in all. In the same over, the 18th of the innings, Shami could've had Badoni on 40 had Ferguson not dropped a low catch at sweeper cover. Badoni eventually sneaks in a single for his first runs on the off side.
In the next over, he wallops Ferguson over midwicket for six, bringing up a 38-ball half-century on IPL debut. Twenty-two-year old Badoni is the third youngest to score a fifty on IPL debut, after Shreevats Goswami and Padikkal, notes Shiva Jayaraman.
At long last, Aaron has Badoni holing out in the final over but not before LSG pass 150. They finish with 158 for 6, which seemed unlikely when 29 for 4 in the fifth over. It might still not be enough for LSG as the dew is setting in at the Wankhede. Sid Monga will take you through Titans' chase.
4
1
2
Rashid traps Hooda
Sure, Hooda slog-swept Rashid for six, but that blow aside, the legspinner was on the money against Hooda. The batter found runs elsewhere, lining up Hardik and Aaron. Hooda took them for 36 off 20 balls before Rashid traps him lbw with a slider. Gone for 55 off 41 balls. Krunal Pandya joins Badoni but they will have to contend with Ferguson's rockets.
5
2
1
1
Hurricane Hooda
Deepak Hooda was nicknamed "Hurricane" for a big-hitting, when he was part of India's Under-19 side in 2014. He lives up to his nickname in Lucknow Super Giants' first IPL game.
Super Giants are 87 for 4 in the 14th over. Hooda alone has contributed 50* off 36 balls. He reached the landmark with a swept six followed by a single, off Rashid. LGG take 62 runs between overs 10 and 15, with Hooda dominating the fifth-wicket stand with Ayush Badoni, who has also represented India in Under-19 cricket.
3
4
3
T20 WC watch: Hardik Pandya
10
6
1
7
Three in three for Shami
This time he bursts through the defences of Manish Pandey to nail the top of off stump. LSG are 32 for 4 in six overs. Oh hello! Hardik brings himself into the attack. Before Monday, the last time Hardik bowled in an IPL game was in the 2019 final against CSK. He has looked quite sharp so far, even hitting 140kph. Curiously enough, though, Hardik is holding back Rashid.
5
11
8
3
Another Shami special
Shami goes round the wicket to the left-handed de Kock and storms through his defences with an inducker. The ball hits the top of middle. The ball is nibbling around in the early exchanges at the Wankhede once again. On the opening night of IPL 2022, it was Umesh Yadav who set up the game for KKR in the powerplay. Tonight, it is Shami who is setting it up nicely for Ferguson and Rashid. LSG are 13 for 2 in the third over. They slide further to 20 for 3 in the next over, with Gill taking a terrific catch to send back Lewis
2
6
6
2
Shami removes Rahul for duck
The first delivery from Shami is a beauty. He lands it on a full length with a bolt-upright seam. It veers in with the angle from over the wicket and then swerves away. Rahul has a little prod at it as the ball scratches the outside edge. Hardik challenges the on-field not-out decision. Ultra-Edge detects a spike as ball passes bat. Rahul starts IPL 2022 with a golden duck
7
7
7
3
Gujarat Titans bowl first
Hardik wins the toss on IPL captaincy debut and (of course) opts to bowl first at the Wankhede. He says that Gujarat Titans are wary of the dew and that his side will play with freedom. Lucknow Super Giants are playing just three overseas players: Evin Lewis, Quinton de Kock and Dushmantha Chameera.
Jason Holder and Kyle Mayers are expected to be available only after the first week of the IPL as they were part of West Indies' Test squad against England. They will miss Super Giants' first two matches. Marcus Stoinis, who is part of Australia's white-ball squads for the Pakistan tour, will miss the third match as well.
Gujarat Titans: 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Matthew Wade (wk), 3 Vijay Shankar, 4 Abhinav Manohar, 5 Hardik Pandya (capt), 6 David Miller, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Rashid Khan, 9 Varun Aaron, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Mohammed Shami
Lucknow Super Giants: 1 KL Rahul (capt), 2 Quinton de Kock (wk), 3 Evin Lewis, 4 Manish Pandey, 5 Deepak Hooda, 6 Krunal Pandya, 7 Mohsin Khan, 8 Ayush Badoni, 9 Dushmantha Chameera, 10 Ravi Bishnoi, 11 Avesh Khan
5
6
7
6
Hardik gears up for IPL captaincy debut
2
5
8
5
Battle of newbies
KL Rahul's Lucknow Super Giants vs Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans. This is also the first time in the IPL that the Pandya brothers will be up against each other. And Krunal will instead share the dressing room with Deepak Hooda who severed ties with Baroda and moved to Rajasthan after a spat with Krunal last year. The IPL is a strange place. The league has now forced the pair to shrug off skeletons. These are still early days in the IPL, but the toss has already been a crucial factor. Those of you in the US can watch the action live on ESPN+
5
5
2
1