The Gujarat Titans (GT) were crowned champions of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 after defeating the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 7 wickets on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Hardik Pandya led from the front with an all-round performance which powered Gujarat Titans to their maiden IPL title after a clinical 7-wicket victory.
Chasing 131 to win the final, GT lost Wriddhiman Saha’s wicket early after Prasidh Krishna went through the opener’s defence and knocked the stumps. Trent Boult added pressure by bowling a magnificent maiden over with the new ball.
Matthew Wade whacked the first six of the innings before the left-handed batter was caught inside the circle as Boult scalped his first wicket. Shubman Gill creamed a four at the end of the powerplay as GT moved to 31/2 after 6 overs.
Skipper Hardik Pandya joined Gill but RR kept things tight with the ball and created pressure. GT were placed at 54/2 at the halfway stage and required 77 off the final ten overs.
Pandya switched gears and added two fours followed by a maximum against Ashwin as the fifty partnership was up for the third wicket.
Yuzvendra Chahal put an end to the partnership with a brilliant delivery that turned sharply to dismiss the GT skipper, who was caught at first slip.
GT were 97/3 before David Miller, who walked in next, conveniently took the pressure away with his elegant strokes and brought the equation down to 22 off 24.
Miller added two more fours as the next over produced 13 runs. Gill, who anchored the innings brilliantly at the other end, finished the game in style with a maximum as GT chased down the total with eleven balls to spare.
