David Miller’s three effortless sixes looked like action replays as Gujarat Titans under skipper Hardik Pandya reached the final of IPL-15 with a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday. Rajasthan Royals rode on Jos Butler’s 56-ball-89 to post 188 for six in 20 overs, which seemed like a winning total considering the pressure of the occasion.
To fight the challenge, Pandya (40 off 27 balls) and Miller (68 off 38 balls) put up 101 runs in exactly 10 overs to seal the deal with three balls to spare.
A debutant team, GT turned out to be the most consistent team and will now play the final in front of its home crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
Miller placed five huge sixes, three off the last over from Prasidh Krishna, when the bowler completely lost his nerve.
The best part about Pandya’s captaincy was not taking any risks against the opposition’s best bowler Yuzvendra Chahal (0/32 in 4 overs) but left it to Miller who hit two huge sixes to ease the pressure.
Once Trent Boult (1/38 in 4 overs) and Chahal were done, it was left to Obed McCoy (1/40 in 4 overs) to bowl a good 19th over with Titans requiring 23 off 12 balls.
During the league stage, GT played 14 matches. They won 10 games and faced defeat in 4 games. With 20 points, they finished on the top spot in the IPL 2022 points table and bagged an entry into the playoffs.
Rajasthan Royals, led by Sanju Samson, played 14 games during the league stage. They won 9 matches and lost 5. With 18 points and a better run rate than LSG, RR clinched the 2nd spot in the IPL 2022 points table and qualified for Qualifier 1 of the playoffs.
