IPL 2022: Titans first among equals

Gujarat Titans’ 144/4 wasn’t a match-winning total. Far from it. But the pitch wasn’t ideal for stroke-play and grafting was the order of the day. Once in a while, such low-scoring games are enjoyable amid an overdose of batting bludgeoning in T20 cricket. Titans won and secured a place in the playoffs because they had Shubman Gill’s class and a well-rounded bowling attack to see them through. A top-heavy Lucknow Super Giants batting imploded once their openers got out cheaply. They were bowled out for 82 to lose by 62 runs.

Gill holds fort

Titans’ innings, for the greater part, was an exercise in sterility, in sync with the stadium atmosphere. Large swathes of empty seats at the MCA Stadium in Pune greeted the two table-toppers and it seemed to have affected the Titans’ batting intensity. The pitch wasn’t a highway and some innovations were needed to up the ante. A couple of soft dismissals didn’t help matters.

After a longish spell on the sidelines, Matthew Wade was brought back to the fold, as Titans made three changes on the heels of two successive losses. Wade started off with back-to-back fours against Dushmantha Chameera but fell to Avesh Khan, trying to play his favourite lap shot through the vacant fine-leg region. He ended up nicking it straight to the wicketkeeper and cursed himself. Avesh didn’t mind a good start.

Luck was smiling on the fast bowler on the night and Hardik Pandya’s scalp with a loosener, short and wide outside off, was a real bonus. Nine times out of 10, Hardik would dispatch it to the point boundary. On Tuesday though, he got an outside edge to the ’keeper instead. It happened right after the resumption following the first strategic time-out. Maybe, Hardik’s concentration had been affected. Also, he tried to hit the ball a little too hard. The Titans skipper admonished himself.