WATCH: Captain Dismisses Captain As Hardik Run Outs Samson At A Crucial Point
RR vs GT IPL 2022: It seems like Hardik Pandya, ever since his return, has had a Midas touch and everything he is touching turns to gold. Along with ably leading Gujarat Titans, Pandya has shone with the bat, ball, taking catches, as well as inflicting runouts. In the match against Rajasthan Royals, Hardik first rose with the bat, and then dismissed RR captain Samson!
Chasing a total of near 200, Rajasthan Royals lost three wickets inside the powerplay, including the two important batters - Jos Buttler & Devdutt Padikkal. With this, the onus was on the skipper Sanju Samson to take the team forward and in the end, cross the line by pacing the chase perfectly. Sanju looked to do that as he scored 11 runs with a six.
The 8th over was given to Lockie Ferguson with Samson & Rassie van der Dussen on the crease for the Royals. Lockie delivered the third delivery full which was driven by Sanji towards mid-off and he ran for a single which wasn't there by any chance.
Titans captain Hardik Pandya swooped in from mid-off and smashed the bull's eye at the bowler's end while Sanju Samson was found short of the crease as the balls dislodged the stumps. With this, Rajasthan Royals' hopes sank as none of the batters could take the game deep and finish it.
Talking about the match, in the first innings, Hardik Pandya remained unbeaten on 87 runs in 52 balls as Gujarat Titans posted 192/4 in 20 overs after being put in to bat first by Rajasthan Royals captain Sanju Samson in the 24th match of IPL 2022. Apart from the skipper, youngster Abhinav Manohar contributed with 43 runs in 28 balls while David Miller remained unbeaten on 31 runs in just 14 balls.
Also Read: IPL 2022 - Scorecard
Rajasthan Royals failed to chase this total down and were halted to 155/9 in 20 overs. Jos Buttler was the top-scored with 54 runs in 24 balls while Lockie Ferguson & debutant Yash Dayal picked up 3 wickets each for GT. This match was played at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai.