Debutant Gujarat marched into the final riding on Miller-Storm, beating Rajasthan Royals. The match held on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 (IST) at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.
16 runs required off 6 balls! The last over of the first QUALIFIER of the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Tuesday started with this equation.
In the end, Gujarat Titans made the wait for Rajasthan Royals longer by matching the equation. The new team reached the target of 189 runs with 3 balls and 7 wickets in hand. David ‘Killer’ Miller took Gujarat to the final with three 6s off the first three balls of the over bowled by Prasidh Krishna.
Miller innings in brief
The South African batsman, who made the biggest contribution to take the team to the final, scored 68 off 38 balls. Miller hit three fours and five sixes on his way to the match-winning innings. When 34 runs were needed in 3 overs, Miller came out of the shell. The last 36 runs scored by the team were from the Proteas batsmen, that too in just 11 balls.
Miller’s partner Gujarat skipper Hardik Pandya was also unbeaten on 40 in an unbroken fourth wicket stand of 106 runs. The Indian all-rounder’s 27-ball innings was laced with five fours.
Gujarat’s run chase
Gujarat lost Wriddhiman Saha on the second ball of the innings in the run chase. Gujarat and Wriddhiman’s score was zero then. From there on, Shubman Gill shared a 72-run partnership off 44 balls with Australian batsman Matthew Wade. The Indian opener scored 35 off 21 balls with 5 fours and 1 six. Wade, who returned as the third batsman to leave the team on 85, also scored 35 runs, but in 30 balls.
Pandya and Miller joined hands after Wade’s departure on the third ball of the 10th over. Pandya hit 3 fours in the same over bowled by Obed Mackay, while Gujarat scored 18 runs. With 18 runs in the next three overs, Rajasthan made Gujarat’s run-ball equation a little difficult.
Rajasthan innings
Earlier, Rajasthan scored 188 for 6 aided by Jos Buttler’s carnage. Jos Buttler’s score was 30 off the first 31 balls. He eventually scored 89 off 56 balls. Rajasthan scored 64 runs in the last 4 overs. Captain Sanju Samson played a knock of 47 off 26 balls after losing Yashasvi Jaiswal in the second over. Buttler then started the storm, getting a half-century off 42 balls. He hit 2 sixes with 12 fours in the innings. But this stunning batting went in vain. In the end, Rajasthan had to give in to the explosive batting performance by Miller.
Note that Rashid Khan has given only 15 runs in 4 overs in Rajasthan innings.
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