IPL 2022: Gujarat Titans win maiden title by defeating Rajasthan by 7 wickets
Gujarat Titans have defeated Rajasthan Royals in a relatively straightforward manner to win their maiden IPL title. They become the first team since Rajasthan Royals, way back in 2008, to win a title in their first season.
The stage was all set for Hardik Pandya and his boys to prove to the world what they were capable of. They had topped the table in the league stage and won the qualifier 1, which sent them directly to the final. And they didn’t have to break a sweat to win it either.
The game wasn’t much of a matchup in the first place. From the manner in which Rajasthan approached the game, it looked like a mismatch instead.
Gujarat Titans’ domination
Sanju Samson won the toss and decided to bat first. Batting first had been their forte in this tournament. But the move backfired in the final. Their openers failed to contribute in the powerplay. Instead, they lost Jaiswal and could only manage to score 44 runs.
While Jos Butter held up one end, the wickets kept tumbling from the other. Samson, Padikkal, and Hetmyer all failed to make an impact. As a result, the pressure kept mounting on Buttler, and he couldn’t take it either. The orange cap holder departed for a score of 39 from 35 balls.
After Buttler’s dismissal, nobody could hold the innings together. And Rajasthan ended up with just 130 runs on the board from their 20 overs.
Hardik Pandya was the pick of bowlers for his team. he registered his best bowling performance this year by picking 3 wickets and conceding 17 runs in 4 overs.
This was the fourth-lowest total in the history of the IPL final.
The pitch played some tricks on Gujarat as well. They, too, lost two early wickets in the form of Saha and Wade within the powerplay. However, captain Pandya and Shubhman Gill steadied the ship for their team in the middle overs.
Later, Pandya too had to depart, but the job was almost done. Gill along with Miller, ensured that there were no slipups towards the end. As Gujarat Titans won their first-ever IPL title.
Pandya maintained his 100% success rate in the IPL finals with this victory. He has now appeared in 5 finals and won all of them.
