IPL 2022: Match 24, RR vs GT – Who Said What

Gujarat Titans squared off against Rajasthan Royals in match no. 24 of the IPL 2022 at Dr. DY Patil Stadium to emerge victorious by 37 runs. After deciding to move in the field with the ball first, RR bowlers couldn’t contain the batting firepower of GT, especially the carnage by Hardik Pandya, Abhinav Manohar, and David Miller lower down the order.

Due to the top order collapse, the onus was on skipper Pandya to push his side towards a formidable score and he smashed 87 off 52 to stand tall on the occasion. Crucial runs by Manohar (43 off 28) and Miller (31* off 14) made sure that the debutants posted a fine total of 192 runs on the board. Yuzvendra Chahal picked a wicket while his senior compatriot Ravi Ashwin offered the best economy of 8.20 on the day.

Lockie Ferguson shines for GT yet again

When the chase game began, Jos Buttler looked in a complete mood to destroy GT bowlers as he smashed 54 off 24 while wreaking havoc in powerplay overs. However, when he was sent back by a toe-crushing slower yorker of Lockie Ferguson, RR batters had nothing significant to offer as wickets fell in regular intervals. Yash Dayal got three wickets to his name, albeit being really expensive on the day while Ferguson picked three conceding at a stunning 5.80.

Losing skipper, Sanju Samson said:

You can say that (if Gurajat got 10-15 extra runs). But I would like to give credit to their batters. Hardik played a very good innings, they played really well to get that score. If we had wickets in hand this was chasable I feel. We were almost there in terms of run rate, in the powerplay we had a better run rate actually, But we kept losing wickets. Freaky niggle last night in training, definitely missed him (Boult). Hopefully he will be back soon. He (Hardik) had a really good day today, batted, bowled and fielded well. I have played enough number of years in this league to understand that each game is crucial. Very important to learn and comeback stronger in the next game. I was doing No. 3 continuously till last season. So we decided to have that flexibility, come down at No. 4 or 5 or wherever the team needs me. Having someone like R Ashwin allows us to do that, Devdutt Padikkal batted 3 in the first three games. So it all depends on the combination we are playing.

Winning skipper and player of the match, Hardik Pandya said:

Always good to win. It is just cramps. Not used to batting for so long. Gives me time though to calculate. Today I got the rhythm and planned my knock. It allows the others to play freely. I have done the other role where I have scored 12 balls 30. Captaincy is always fun. Be the flagbearer of the team. The team is gelling well. I wanted all of us to be happy for each other’s happiness. That is working well for the team.