In the Saturday doubleheader, Gujarat Titans beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 8 runs in another thriller of this year’s tournament. Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to have a bat. It was the first time that any team has chosen to bat first after winning the toss in this year’s edition. Apart from Hardik Pandya, GT batters did struggle against KKR bowling and they could manage to put 156 on the board. In reply, GT bowlers dominated from the start in the second innings. Andre Russell almost took KKR over the line but in the end, it was not enough.
Let’s look at the talking points from this IPL 2022 match –
Skipper’s knock from Hardik Pandya once again in IPL 2022
Coming back into the side, Hardik was on song with the bat once again. He came in at number 3 in only the second over of the innings after Gill’s early dismissal. It was a very sensible inning from him where he tried to be there till the end and scored 67 off 49.
Image Credits: CricTracker
Andre Russell’s all-round show wasn’t enough for KKR
The big Jamaican star was at his best with both bat and ball. In the 20th over, Russell picked up four wickets and gave away just 5 to restrict GT to 156. It was a very chasable total but KKR batter’s found it very tough against a quality Gujarat bowling attack. Russell scored a magnificent 48 off 25, but unfortunately could not finish the job.
SRH thrashed RCB by 9 wickets
In the second game, Sunrisers Hyderabad won their 5th consecutive match in this year’s IPL by beating Royal Challenger Bangalore by 9 wickets. Kane Williamson won the toss and elected to field. RCB scored their second-lowest total in their history after getting all out for 68. It was a bowling masterclass by SRH. In reply, Hyderabad chased the total in just 8 overs with 9 wickets in hand.
Let’s look at the talking points from this IPL 2022 game –
RCB lost their star trio Faf, Kohli, Maxwell within 5th over
Marco Jansen was at his absolute best in this game to send back the top 3 of RCB in one over. Virat Kohli went for another golden duck this year. Even an in-form Dinesh Karthik could not score a run as RCB got bundled out for 68 in 16.1 overs.
SRH go second in the table after 5th consecutive win
After losing the first two matches, no one really expected Sunrisers Hyderabad to be back in this way. After winning just three games in the whole of last season, Kane Williamson’s side is on a roll now. They have 5 wins from 7 in this IPL and after chasing the total down with 12 overs left, they have also got a healthy net run rate. Things are certainly going in the right direction for them after the David Warner era. With almost no star in the lineup, SRH is getting their act together as a team.
