 | « Back to article | Print this article |
Images from the IPL 2022 match between Sunrisers Hyderabad and Gujarat Titans at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Monday.
A clinical showing from their bowlers and a solid half-century from captain Kane Williamson helped Sunrisers Hyderabad outclass Gujarat Titans by eight wickets in the IPL 2022 match at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai on Monday.
Williamson top-scored for SRH with 57, while Nicholas Pooran smashed a quickfire 34 not out from 18 balls, to steer them home with five balls to spare.
Abhishek Sharma continued his good form with a fluent 42 form 32 balls as he put on 64 runs for the opening wicket with Williamson.
Rahul Tripathi had to retire hurt after scoring 17 from 11 balls in the 14th over before Williamson perished a few overs later, but Pooran ensured there were no late dramas with his attacking approach.
Earlier, skipper Hardik Pandya's responsible half-century steered Gujarat to 162/7 after a top-order failure. But that was never going to be enough, as Williamson, who struck his first fifty of the season, anchored the Sunrisers' chase.
Sunrisers recorded their second consecutive win after defeating Chennai Super Kings on Saturday last, while Gujarat suffered their first defeat after three straight wins.
Williamson, whose 46-ball knock was studded with two fours and four sixes, first added 64-runs with opener Abhishek Sharma (42 off 32 balls) to lay the foundation of the win. The Kiwi captain then forged a 40-run stand with Rahul Tripathi, who retired hurt on 17, to inch closer to the win.
Pooran sealed the deal with his brutal hitting in the final few overs to keep Sunrisers ahead after Williamson perished in the 17th over. His innings was studded with two fours and an equal number of sixes.
He finished off the match in grand style, hitting pacer Darshan Nalkande for a huge six over square leg.
There were two game changing moments. First, in the 13th over, Williamson launched into Hardik Pandya by hitting him for two sixes. Then, in the 16th over bowled by Lockie Ferguson, the Sunrisers captain clobbered a six and a boundary, to put SRH on course for the win.
Pandya hit 50 not out off 42 balls, adding crucial 50 runs with Abhinav Manohar, who slammed 35 from 21 balls, to ensure that Gujarat crossed the 150-run mark.
Manohar, who got three lives, hit five boundaries and one six in his short stay and particularly launched into Thangarasu Natarajan (2/34) in the 18th over, where Gujarat amassed 13 runs.
However, it was an unusual Hardik knock, as he mixed caution with aggression to anchor the innings.
Put into bat, Hardik first forged a 40-run stand for the fourth wicket with David Miller (12) to rally the innings after the top three batters failed to convert their starts as Gujarat were in a spot of bother at 64/3 after eight overs.
Hardik announced his arrival with a straight-drive off Natarajan to fetch his first boundary and then was brutal on Umran Malik (1/39), whom he hammered two successive boundaries in the eight over.
In the next over, he clobbered part-time spinner Aiden Markram for his only maximum over midwicket but Gujarat kept losing wickets at regular intervals in the middle overs.
The SRH bowlers largely kept Hardik at bay, as they did not allow him to free his arms in the last five overs and as a result the Gujarat captain posted the slowest fifty in the IPL.
Opener Matthew Wade earned his first boundary, courtesy a thick outside edge in the first over, where Bhuvneshwar Kumar (2/37) conceded 17 runs, 12 of them extras.
But Gujarat lost Wade (19), Shubman Gill (7) and one-down batter Sai Sudarshan (11) cheaply.
Gill was undone by a stunning one-handed diving catch by Rahul Tripathi at cover, off Bhuvneshwar, in the third over.
Sudarshan, who was looking rusty, became Natarajan's first victim, after ballooning to Kane Williamson at mid-off.
Wade, who hammered three boundaries, was trapped leg before wicket, after he missed a flick against Malik in the eight over.
Hardik and Manohar provided the boost in the end as Gujarat added 82 runs in the final 10 overs.