Gujarat Titans fire to sweep away Lucknow Super Giants at Ahmedabad: The Gujarat Titans put on a dominant display against the Lucknow Super Giants in the Indian Premier League, with Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 94 and Wriddhiman Saha’s 81 leading them to a total of 227-2, the fourth highest total this season. Lucknow’s Kyle Mayers had a quick-fire 48 at the top of the innings, but was dismissed by Rashid Khan in the ninth over after a brilliant catch. Despite Quinton de Kock’s 70, Lucknow’s middle-order crumbled, finishing at 171-7, allowing Gujarat to seal an impressive win & secure top place in points table with 16 points.
Image: Both Pandya brothers discussion during toss in IPL 2023. Source: TOI
Gujarat’s Dominant Display In Power play
Gujarat Titans started their innings at an explosive pace, with Saha and Gill adding 142 runs for the first wicket in only 12.1 overs. This set the franchise record for the highest partnership for any wicket, and was the second-best stand for any team for any wicket in this IPL. The Saha-Gill pair went ballistic to add 78 runs in the first six overs, scoring at 13 runs per over.
Saha led the charge with a couple of fours and a six off Mohsin Khan in the first two overs, while Gill smacked a six over long-on off Krunal Pandya. Saha continued his assault on Mohsin in the left-armer’s second over, hitting him for a couple of sixes and fours to take the defending champions past the 50-run mark inside four overs. In the last over of the powerplay, Saha brought up his fifty off only 20 balls with a six off Yash Thakur.
The Gujarat wicketkeeper-batter continued to hammer the Lucknow bowlers, hitting an overall four sixes and 10 fours to make 81 from 43 balls. Gill opened up tad late but finished close to what would have been a splendid maiden IPL century, hitting seven sixes and two fours in his 51-ball knock.
GT’s charge continued post the powerplay as 43 runs in the next four overs took their total to 121 without any damage at the halfway mark. Saha and Gill’s century stand came up in the ninth over itself with the latter hitting Ravi Bishnoi inside out for a six over cover. Gill took 29 balls to bring up his fourth fifty of this IPL, which came in the 12th over.
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Super Giants’ Gave a Solid Start
Despite the strong start from Gujarat, the Lucknow Super Giants were not out of the game yet. They knocked off 50 runs from the target in only four overs with both Mayers and de Kock finding momentum. Mayers began with three consecutive fours off Hardik Pandya in the second over, and the third from Mohammad Shami yielded 19 runs with de Kock hitting a couple of fours and Mayers getting a six and a four. Mayers was also severe on Rashid Khan in the fifth, hitting him for a six and a four to collect 14 runs as LSG reached 72 for no loss after the powerplay.
Rashid Khan completed a wonderful running catch to dismiss Kyle Mayers and end the opening stand. The Afghan player covered a distance of 26 metres from deep square leg and managed to hold on to the ball while diving to his right, getting rid of Mayers for 48 off 32 balls (7x4s, 2x6s) off Mohit Sharma. But de Kock continued to flourish, flicking Hardik powerfully over midwicket for a six to take LSG to 102 for one halfway.
