IPL 2023: Lucknow Super Giants vs Gujarat Titans, Match 30 - Talking Points and Who Said What?

Gujarat Titans (GT) clinched two points from the jaws of defeat against Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) after emerging victorious by seven runs. With this, Hardik Pandya and Co. registered their fourth win of the season and defended the lowest total of IPL 2023 at the Ekana Cricket Stadium in Lucknow on Saturday, April 22.

KL Rahul’s Super Giants were well on course to register their fifth win of the season; however, Gujarat’s fight back throughout the chase paid dividends. Notably, it was the final over heroics by seasoned pacer Mohit Sharma that helped turned the game on its head and win it for GT.

Here are the Talking Points from the LSG vs GT clash-

Hardik-Saha raise vital stand

After the early dismissal of Shubman Gill, skipper Hardik Pandya and Wriddhiman Saha combined to put on a vital stand for the second wicket. The pair got some important runs and kept Gujarat steady in the innings. Saha and Hardik added 68 runs between them as the former got 47 runs before departing.

Following the dismissal, Hardik then shifted gears and single-handedly steered the side to post 135 runs on the board which, at that time, didn't seem to be enough. The batter hardly got any assistance from the rest of the batting unit as he scored 66 runs off 50 balls. 

Krunal Pandya dazzles with the ball

Krunal relished a terrific outing with the ball for Lucknow. The spinner got the vital scalps of the two openers in his four overs. Moreover, the rival batting unit was hardly able to target him for the big runs as he gave away mere 16 runs in four overs, concluding with an economy of 4.00.

Titans stun Super Giants in final over ft. Mohit Sharma

In reply to the paltry score, Lucknow’s opening pair handed a solid head start as Kyle Mayers and KL Rahul got 55 runs for the first wicket. Despite playing on a slower wicket, Lucknow were on course to win the low-scoring contest.

However, Titans showed no signs of letting the match slip away as they dismissed Mayers for 24 runs. The dismissal marked the beginning of the end of LSG’s hopes to win the clash. Though Rahul notched up his half-century off 38 balls, the side decided to take it slow and keep the scoreboard ticking. 

With 12 required off the last over, Hardik decided to hand the responsibility to experienced pacer, Mohit Sharma. The decision worked wonders as the pacer handed four wickets on the trot which included two individual scalps and two run outs. In doing so, he won the contest for Titans from the jaws of defeat.

Losing captain, KL Rahul said -

I don't know how it has happened. It happened too fast. I can't put a finger on where we let the game slip, which was in our pocket. We were quite brilliant with the ball and in the field. 135 is probably par or 10 under par. We used the conditions well. We started pretty well with the bat too. I still can't say what happened. At the end of the day it is just a game, we still have four wins in seven, but this is going to sting for a while. We were well ahead in the game, I wasn't trying to bat really deep, I was still trying to take the bowlers on that I fancy. They bowled three good overs between Noor and Jayant. Probably should have taken a couple more chances. Not an easy wicket for new batters to come in. Set batters need to finish the game. We missed some boundary opportunities in the end. We should have got it done.

Winning captain, Hardik Pandya said -

After the two games we lost, this seems like god is telling us I am not always going to take from you, I will give to you too. The way the environment changed when we got wickets, the belief we had, was wonderful to watch. In a tournament like this, one loss can break you, but such a win can do the opposite. At best, we could have got 10 more. That's how the wicket was. During the strategic timeout, we spoke about the set batter batting longer because the new batter was going to find it difficult. When there was 30 required off 30, I felt they were ahead. We started sniffing something when it came down to 27 off 4 overs. A run a ball off 10 overs is different, but when it comes down to 24 off 24, you know a mistake can cost you the game. That's when the game changes. The amount of cricket Mo has played, I didn't need to tell him anything. The calmness, planning and execution he showed, it was tremendous. At the same time, Shami showed his experience. Mohit and Shami were tremendous. Special mention to Jayant as well, playing after such a long time. Obviously Noor, that guy has some talent.

Player of the Match, Mohit Sharma said -

Nothing special, it is all normal. Consistency and experience is there, but it is all process. That's the speciality of this team: whether you do well or do badly, you go back and follow the same process. We never lost the belief. Hardik kept telling us from ball one that we are winning the match. Just keep doing your job. That belief was always there, that is special. I was only focusing on executing my plan. I tried to be clear in my head. Whether I am bowling the slower bouncer or the yorker, the batter shouldn't be able to predict.