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| The Gujarat Titans defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders by eight runs. (Photo by Vipin Pawar / Sportzpics for IPL) |
IPL 2022: Attack failed, defense works for GT vs KKR
Gujarat Titans' top batsmen fail to post long points, but bowlers help the team bounce back against the Kolkata Knight Riders
The Gujarat Titans cracked the solid foundation to fall when he died but Alzarri Joseph dismissed Andre Russell in the final over as he looked set to drag the Kolkata Knight Riders into victory. His exit brought GT a sixth victory in seven games, with KKR dropping to their fourth consecutive defeat at DY Patil Stadium.
Russell does, almost
Ball behind powerplay, KKR lost captain Shreyas Iyer and struggled 34 out of 4. After seeing how KKR threw, GT also hit a long back and their pacers easily came out on top, which revealed another. New opening by Sam Billings and Sunil Narine.
Rinku Singh kept them chasing mid-overs with an unusual boundary as GT made a full mistake and paid the price. But the impressive Yash Dayal gave a 13th victory. In the next episode, Rashid makes Venkatesh Iyer get caught in the deep midwife on the short border by Abhinav Manohar out of the wrong direction.
Of the 98 out of 6, only Andre Russell stood between victory and GT. Dayal put him in the third ball with a vicious striker who jumped on the Jamaican, who managed to block him until he reached the right leg. But it turned out that there was no ball and Russell went on to drop six sixs in hopes of GT; or directed in the short, or straight direction, Russell took the KKR up to between the required two maximus with five balls left.
But now Alzarri Joseph has got his bum on target. Lockie Ferguson initially ran very fast from the right leg, but changed direction in time to swallow Russell's edge. And that was the game there for GT.
GT loses 7/23 to death
At 133 out of 2 in the 17th over, GT had a solid pitch where it would launch a total of 175-180. But they managed to add only 23 runs to the win which cost them seven wickets.
After the first few overs, KKR realized that digging the ball short into the pitch, and taking off the pace became the way he should go. If they had done so well, it would have been impossible for the new batsman to come in and force the speed right away.
Even the set David Miller could not; he tried to expose Shivam Mavi but the ball kicked when Mavi cut it and fell to the left, then curled up to catch it easily in the inner circle.
Then came the procession of strikers who could not move the long western boundary, either with a slogan or a cut. The team was 13-14 meters from the east as the stadium was located on one side of the square. Three strikers failed to overtake Rinku Singh deep in the long run in the only over-the-run throw by Andre Rusell.
GT hit just two runs in the last five overs, both from Rahul Tewatia, including one from outside. Tewatia was sent to No. 5 in the fall of Miller, probably to keep the left combination with Hardik. But GT also promoted Rashid Khan next to Abhinav Manohar, probably because of his actions in their last game against the Chennai Super Kings. But none of their actions worked on this.
Hardik is a self-proclaimed hero
Captain Hardik again struck the GT in the third century in a row, but he also injured himself. Tewatia pushed for a quick single at the end of the 17th over and as Hardik ended up running all the way to the edge of the circle, he seemed to magnify the groin injury that kept him out of the CSK game. He immediately called for a physio and stepped out of the next ball he was facing from Tim Southee, not gaining strength or distance as he sent a tired looking heave into the deep midwicket.
Until the fall of the 18th, Hardik had intelligently guided GT progress. Hitting for the first time this season at No 3 instead of No. 4, he came in early in the second over. A few four on the short side for Southee drove him, though the New Zealander player missed a clear chance to recapture the GT captain.
Hardik tried to force the border every now and then, but the ball was already not moving well enough to be able to plan those ups and downs. The moment came when he clearly saw that Mavi would pass the next ball after his short ball was placed over the third person.
With GT playing four fast bowlers with Rashid and Tewatia, maybe Hardik wouldn't throw even if he didn't injure himself continuously during the game. In the seventh over, he ended up running behind Rinku Singh's car to the long border, putting in an empty dive at the last minute and leaving the pitch shortly thereafter. He was circling dugout until the end of the game, with Rashid taking the reins on the field again.
Short scores:
Gujarat Titans 156 for 9 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 67, Andre Russell 4/5) bt Kolkata Knight Riders: 148 for 8 in 20 overs (Andre Russell 48, Mohammed Shami 2/20, Rashid Khan 2/22) by runs eight