22 off 6: Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia’s six hitting take GT across the line
Synopsis: Rashid Khan’s three sixes in four balls stole a last-ball win for GT over SRH after Umran Malik’s five had ripped through their line-up
Rashid Khan endured his costliest spell of the season against his former franchise, dropped a catch and misjudged another chance. But with Gujarat Titans requiring 15 off the last four balls against Sunrisers Hyderabad in a chase of 196, he smoked three sixes off Marco Jansen to steal a last-ball five-wicket win.
WHAT. A. GAME! 👌👌
WHAT. A. FINISH! 👍👍
We witnessed an absolute thriller at the Wankhede and it’s the @gujarat_titans who edged out #SRH to seal a last-ball win! 🙌 🙌
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/r0x3cGZLvS #TATAIPL #GTvSRH pic.twitter.com/jCvKNtWN38
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 27, 2022
Tewatia, Rashid at it again
With 56 needed off the last four, Umran Malik’s spell of 4-0-25-5 had all but shocked and stunned Sunrisers into submission. But Tewatia seems to thrive in such situations. He wasn’t letting the asking-rate run out of control. A loft over mid-off, a swipe over midwicket, a massive slog-sweep or two, he produced the boundary when GT desperately needed it.
A happy #IPLSelfie from the @gujarat_titans camp after an outstanding win against #SRH.#TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/q9LN1vnA0c
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 27, 2022
Still, as many as 22 were required off the last over to be bowled Marco Jansen. Tewatia swung a six but only a single next meant it was down to Rashid. The field changed now; point was sent back, third man was brought up. Rashid guessed correctly, it was going to be full and wide and he slaughtered it high and over the sightscreen. Jansen went full and wide again, and Rashid sliced it with all his might over extra cover now.
Jansen banged it into the pitch at Rashid. The Afghan veteran swivelled and swung it over fine leg towards an ecstatic Garware Pavilion, and raised his arms in celebration and also redemption.
Saha sets it up
Wriddhiman Saha has been in the news for off-field controversies, but here he was an unlikely candidate to get the GT chase off with a sparkling 68 off 38 at the top of the order. It was typical Saha, and it was effective. There were the swipe-whips over square leg, the skip-and-chip over mid-on and mid-off, and after a while, the gaps were being sniffed out with efficient regularity. Until he became Umran’s third victim with a near 153 kph missile, Saha had kept GT’s nose in front.
Upstox Most Valuable Asset of the Match between Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad is Wriddhiman Saha.#TATAIPL @upstox #OwnYourFuture #GTvSRH pic.twitter.com/JZ8OQqbzXZ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 27, 2022
Abhishek flattens Rashid
In these sides’ first clash this season at DY Patil Stadium, Shami had kept Abhishek quiet in the powerplay with a point and a shortish backward point next to him. The same field was in place right away at Wankhede too for the young left-hander, and Shami left him groping with two away-seaming peaches from back of a length. But Abhishek prospered against the fuller lengths of Yash Dayal, and later Alzarri Joseph. Even as the left-arm seamer Dayal found some late swing away from him, Abhishek had it covered with his stride and sent it over cover with the sweetest of lofted drives. The 21-year old Punjab all-rounder doesn’t really have a power game, at least yet, but when he times it, it is worth watching.
Dream11 GameChanger of the Match between Gujarat Titans and Sunrisers Hyderabad is Umran Malik.#TATAIPL #DreamBig @Dream11 #GTvSRH pic.twitter.com/FjkmXeM4PP
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 27, 2022
At DY Patil, Abhishek had fallen to Rashid Khan; he’d tried to pull but the ball had hurried on and he’d found deep midwicket. On the smaller boundaries at Wankhede, he was prepared to take on Rashid more aggressively. He slog-swept the leg-spinner for three sixes when he saw some flight, and when Rashid bowled a flatter googly, he slapped him over extra cover for four. He was slogging with the turn, of course, but the Afghan is hard to pick; he’d tossed one up in GT’s previous game at DY Patil inviting Venkatesh Iyer to slog-sweep, but it was a wrong ‘un, and the Kolkata Knight Riders left-hander had failed to clear deep midwicket.
But Abhishek comfortably cleared the Wankhede boundary, handing his former team-mate his most expensive figures of the season – 0/45 – the first time in eight games that Rashid had conceded more than 30.
It was an off-colour game in the field too for Rashid. He’d already put down Rahul Tripathi at backward point and now misjudged a pull from Aiden Markram. He ran in first from deep midwicket and then realised the ball had more dance on it; had he remained in position, it would likely have been a straightforward chance. But it ended up going for six.
Abhishek and Aiden Markram put on 96 for the third wicket in ten overs, and at 140 for 2 after 15, Sunrisers were well in sight of 200. GT’s on-pace offerings had cost them plenty all night, but they took some pace off at the death. That put the brakes on Sunrisers, who lost four wickets in three overs for only 22 runs.
Shashank stuns Lockie
Playing his sixth game of the season but batting for the first time, Shashank Singh got Sunrisers close to 200 with three sixes off the last three balls of the innings. The 30-year-old allrounder now plays for Chhattisgarh but began his career for Mumbai. He dispatched Lockie Ferguson to three different parts of the Wankhede – a heave over deep midwicket, a lap over short fine leg and a mow that just cleared a jumping long-off. Sunrisers have been including him ahead of their retained hitter Abdul Samad, and with a nerveless 25 off 6, Shashank gave a glimpse of the reason. But Rashid would be ready with three blows of his own as payback.
