Shami bursts through LSG top order, as GT win

The Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated the Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in the fourth game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai. Mohammed Shami was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Shami lets the ball do the talking

Most had speculated that LSG’s opening pair of captain Kananur Lokesh Rahul and Quinton de Kock would take the tournament by storm. Rahul, who previously played for the Punjab Kings for four seasons, had scored in excess of 500 runs in each. A partner like de Kock would only add to that.

Yet, it was Mohammed Shami, who startled everyone, with his pace and accuracy. Shami was so good that he dismissed Rahul in the first ball of the match with an absolute snorter. As if that was not a big enough blow for LSG, Shami even got rid of de Kock and Manish Pandey. With the help of Varun Aaron, GT left the batting side reeling at 29/4 in the fifth over.

Hooda and Badoni reprieve the Super Giants

With their side stranded at 29/4 in the powerplay itself, one could understand the slow and patient approach of Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni. In the middle overs, they found it hard to adjust to Locki Ferguson’s speed and Rashid Khan’s craftyness.

However, Hooda decided that enough was enough, and took on all bowlers, including Khan, before reaching his half century. Badoni, who was on IPL debut, took a bit more time and eventually found it in himself to accelerate as well. From 29/4 in the fifth over, the pair had taken their team 116 in the sixteenth over. Even after the two fell, Krunal Pandya provided the finishing touches, to take Lucknow to a total of 158.

Hardik and Wade fight through

If Shami surprised the Lucknow team, Dushmantha Chameera came out of the syllabus for Gujarat. The Sri Lankan spearhead struck with his third delivery to get rid of Shubman Gill, before cleaning up Vijay Shankar with a vicious yorker. The responsibility of chasing down the total was passed to Matthew Wade and Hardik Pandya, who was on captaincy debut.

Pandya seemed to find the middle of the bat from ball one, playing some gorgeous strokes. Wade, on the other hand, was happy to play anchor and only attacked the odd ball. By the halfway mark, GT had reached 72 and were well poised to chase the total.

Not the best outing with the ball for Bishnoi and Hooda

When Krunal got rid of his brother, Hardik, and Hooda rattled Wade’s stumps. LSG might have felt that they were in the game once again. Rahul Tewatia and David Miller, the new batters, simply played the field for a long time.

However, Hooda, who was having a great night at that point, was taken apart for 22 runs in the 16th over by the pair. Things got even worse for LSG when their prodigal spinner, Ravi Bishnoi, was also attacked by the two batters. At the end of the night, the two had bowled a combined 7 overs for 65 runs. Despite the two wickets, GT were able to emerge victorious, following a brief cameo from the 27-year-old, Abhinav Manohar.