IPL 2022: Attack fails, defence works for GT vs KKR

A ball after the powerplay, KKR had lost captain Shreyas Iyer and were struggling on 34 for 4. Having seen how KKR themselves had bowled, GT too hit the hard back of a length and their pacers easily ripped out the top order, which featured another fresh opening pair of Sam Billings and Sunil Narine.

Rinku Singh kept them in the chase through the middle overs with the odd boundary as GT erred on the fuller side and paid the price. But the impressive Yash Dayal provided the breakthrough in the 13th. In the next over, Rashid had Venkatesh Iyer caught superbly at deep midwicket on the shorter boundary by Abhinav Manohar off a wrong ‘un.

WHAT A WIN! 👊@gujarat_titans win by 8 runs and are back to the 🔝 of the table 👏#TATAIPL #KKRvGT pic.twitter.com/PylbPa6HD1

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At 98 for 6, only Andre Russell stood in between victory and GT. Dayal had him on the third ball with a vicious bouncer that leapt at the Jamaican, who could only fend it to fine leg. But it turned out to be a no-ball and Russell went on to rain six sixes on GT’s hopes; either targeting the shorter side, or the straight, Russell took KKR to within two maximums needed with five balls left.

Will we witness a @Russell12A special❓

KKR need 50 from 5 overs.

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But now Alzarri Joseph got his bouncer on target. Lockie Ferguson first ran in too much from fine leg, but changed direction just in time to swallow Russell’s top edge. And that was the match there for GT.

GT lose 7/23 at death

At 133 for 2 into the 17th over, GT had a solid platform from which to launch towards a total of 175-180. But they managed to add only 23 more runs in a collapse that saw them losing seven wickets.

After the initial couple of overs, KKR had realised that digging the ball short of a length into the pitch, and taking the pace off was the way to go. If they executed that well, it was all but impossible for a new batsman to come in and force the pace right away.

Even a set David Miller could not; he tried to flay Shivam Mavi but the ball kicked as Mavi cut it across the left-hander, and lobbed up for a simple catch in the inner circle.

ICYMI: Just Russell things! 👏👏

How good was that last over from @Russell12A to scalp 4⃣ wickets 🔥🔥

WATCH 👇 #TATAIPL | #KKRvGThttps://t.co/MJWiJs2d9C

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Then began a procession of batsmen failing to clear the long western boundary, be it with the slog or the cut. That side was around 13-14 metres farther than the eastern one as the pitch for this game was right on one side of the square. Three batsmen failed to get it past Rinku Singh in the deep on the longer rope in the last over alone bowled by Andre Rusell.

GT hit only two boundaries in the last five overs, both came from Rahul Tewatia, including one off an outside edge. Tewatia was sent in at No 5 at the fall of Miller, perhaps to keep the left-right combination going with Hardik. But GT also promoted Rashid Khan next ahead of Abhinav Manohar, perhaps due to his exploits in their previous game against Chennai Super Kings. But none of their moves worked this time.

Hardik the injured lone warrior

Skipper Hardik carried the GT batting once again with his third successive half-century, but also hurt himself again. Tewatia pushed for a quick single at the end of the 17th over and as Hardik ended up rushing all the way to the edge of the circle, he seemed to have aggravated the groin injury that had kept him out of the CSK game. He immediately called for the physio and was gone off the next ball he faced from Tim Southee, finding no power or distance as he sent a tired-looking heave to deep midwicket.
Until his fall in the 18th, Hardik had deftly guided GT’s progress. Batting for the first time this season at No 3 instead of No 4, he came in at the start of the second over. A couple of fours to the shorter side off Southee got him going, although the New Zealander missed a clear run-out chance to send back the GT skipper.

A ramp shot from @hardikpandya7 dispatched for SIX in style 👌

WATCH 👇 #TATAIPL | #KKRvGT https://t.co/BBvE0O21VH

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Hardik tried to force-hit a boundary every now and then, but the ball just wasn’t coming on well enough for him to time those on-the-up drives. The only time that came through was when he correctly judged Mavi would overpitch the next ball after his short ball was guided over third man.

With GT playing four specialist fast bowlers plus Rashid and Tewatia, perhaps Hardik wasn’t going to have bowled even if he hadn’t injured himself further during the match. In the seventh over, he ended up jogging after a Rinku Singh drive to the wide long-off boundary, put in a futile dive at the last instant and left the field soon after. He’d hover around the dugout for the rest of the game, with Rashid taking over the reins on the field again.

Brief scores:

Gujarat Titans 156 for 9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 67, Andre Russell 4/5) bt Kolkata Knight Riders: 148 for 8 in 20 overs (Andre Russell 48, Mohammed Shami 2/20, Rashid Khan 2/22) by eight runs