IPL 2023: Lucknow lose 4 wickets in 4 balls in final over as Gujarat win
Gujarat Titans (GT) held their nerves to register a come-from-behind seven-run victory over Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) in an IPL 2023 match on Saturday (April 22).
Chasing 136, LSG were in control with their skipper KL Rahul scoring a half-century. They needed 39 off 45 with nine wickets in hand but GT bowlers pulled out a stunning win. LSG were restricted to 128/7 in 20 overs.
Mohit Sharma, who bowled the final over of the game with LSG needing 12 off six, took the wickets of Rahul (68 off 61) and Marcus Stoinis (0) off successive deliveries. Two more wickets, via runouts followed as LSG lost four wickets in four balls.
Also read: IPL 2023 full schedule, match times, venues
Earlier, Hardik Pandya top-scored with a 50-ball 66 but slow batting in the middle overs meant that Gujarat Titans could post only a modest 135 for six.
Wriddhiman Saha made 47 off 37 balls to lay the foundation but Hardik couldn’t get going for the most part of his innings although he somewhat made up for the slow batting with some big hits in the end.
With the pitch a tad slow and aiding the spinners, stroke-making was difficult and Krunal Pandya emerged Lucknow’s best bowler as he snapped two wickets, giving away just 16 runs after coming to bowl in the second over.
TAKE. A. BOW Mohit Sharma 🫡🫡
A sensational final over that!
Follow the match ▶️ https://t.co/TtAH2CiXVI#TATAIPL | #LSGvGT pic.twitter.com/PnQAVz3kuy
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 22, 2023
Pacer Naveen-ul-Haq (1/19) and Marcus Stoinis (2/20) also did the job but Ravi Bishnoi had a forgettable outing as he conceded 49 off his quota of four overs.
Also read: IPL 2023 | MS Dhoni: It’s the last phase of my career
The black soil pitch didn’t offer much bounce and pace but Naveen-ul-Haq used the conditions well, not allowing the batters to break free as he conceded just 12 in his first two overs.
Krunal drew first blood, dismissing Shubman Gill for a duck in just his second delivery with the opener holing out to Ravi Bishnoi at long-off.
Saha looked proactive as he managed to pick up boundaries against each of the bowlers, especially Bishnoi, who was punished twice on the off-side as GT scored 40 for 1 in the Powerplay overs.
Hardik, who promoted himself to No. 3, found the going tough initially but Saha was in good nick as he dispatched Stoinis across backward point for another boundary.
Hardik finally broke free, sending Bishnoi across extra cover to bring up the 50-run partnership and then depositing him over long-off as the 9th over yielded 14 runs.
After 12 for 1 in his first three overs, Krunal returned to deceive a well-set Saha with his flight and the opener was caught by Deepak Hooda.
Soon it was 77 for 3 as Amit Mishra set up Abhinav Manohar (3) with a loopy ball outside off and Naveen-ul-Haq took a stunning catch at deep cover with a full stretch dive.
Pandya and new man Vijay Shankar couldn’t push the score and Naveen-ul-Haq returned to clean up the latter as GT reached 92 for 4 in 15 overs.
The 16th and 17th overs slowed down the Titans but with Mishra subbed out, Bishnoi bowled the 18th and Pandya slammed two sixes and a four to bring up his fifty in 44 balls. The over yielded 19 runs.
Naveen-ul-Haq bowled another good over as David Miller just couldn’t get going.
Hardik clubbed Stoinis for a maximum before holing out to Rahul.
Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 135/6 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 66, Wriddhiman Saha 47; Krunal Pandya 2/16) beat Lucknow Super Giants 128/7 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 68, Kyle Mayers 24; Rashid Khan 1/33, Mohit Sharma 2/17)
(With agency inputs)
