Gujarat Titans collapsed spectacularly against pace and spin as Lucknow Super Giants broke its losing run to the former in the IPL with a 33-run win at the Ekana Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.
Titans’ biggest threat Mayank Yadav bowled only one over and went off the field but it found the man of the hour in Yash Thakur whose fine spell (5/30) destroyed the visiting side.
Chasing 164 for a win, Titans was bundled out for 130. Spinners Krunal Pandya (3/11) and Ravi Bishnoi (1/8) dealt crippling blows from which Titans never recovered. There was never an inkling of what was to follow when Titans was given a rousing start by openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan.
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The stage was set for Titans to take control but Yash Thakur’s final ball in the PowerPlay turned the contest on its head.
The pacer cleaned up Shubman Gill for 19 and Impact Player Kane Williamson (1) left without making a mark, falling to a superb flying return catch by Ravi Bishnoi in the seventh over.
Krunal Pandya then prised out Sai Sudharsan (31) and B.R. Sharath (2) in his first over as Titans slumped to 61 for four. Yash came back to dismiss Vijay Shankar (17) and Rashid Khan (0) in a double-wicket maiden over to push Titans to 93 for seven.
In the final over of the match, Yash removed heavy-hitting Tewatia (30) who was caught by Pooran in the deep. The bowler completed his five-wicket haul when Noor Ahmad’s mishit was caught by Quinton de Kock and sealed a win for the home side.
Earlier, Titans impaired Super Giants early in the powerplay and its spinners stifled the scoring in the middle overs until Nicholas Pooran (32*) broke the shackles with his customary finish to take the host to a competitive total of 163 for five.
Super Giants were rocked early by Umesh Yadav whose two wickets in his first two overs rattled the home side. However, skipper K.L. Rahul (33) and Marcus Stoinis (58) added 73 runs for the third wicket which steadied the innings.
Pooran and Ayush Badoni (20) gave the innings some late impetus and the final score proved to be more than adequate.
