Gujarat Titans(GT) became the first team to seal a playoff spot after thrashing Lucknow Super Giants(LSG) by a margin of 62 runs in the 57th match of the Indian Premier League(IPL) on Tuesday, May 10 at the Maharashtra Cricket Association Stadium, Pune. Both the teams had previously faced each other when Titans defeated Super Giants in that match by 5 wickets in a last-over chase.
GT picks up the huge win to seal the playoff spot
Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya had won the toss and opted to bat first. An unbeaten knock of 63 runs off 49 balls by Shubman Gill helped GT post 144 for four in 20 overs. They had started the game slow but steadily. However, they lost wickets at regular intervals. Shubman Gill struck the important fifty for GT after Avesh Khan got the wickets of Matthew Wade and Hardik Pandya to put Lucknow Super Giants on top.
Chasing 145, LSG were bowled out for 82. Rashid Khan and R Sai Kishore ran through the LSG middle order after Yash Dayal struck twice and Mohammed Shami got the wicket of the LSG skipper KL Rahul for the second time this season.
Lucknow lost both their openers cheaply. After top-edging Yash Dayal for a six over the keeper, Quinton de Kock was wiped out in the very next ball for 11. The left-hander looked to drive a full delivery but was caught at cover point.
Dayal conceded three fours in the sixth over but also claimed the wicket of Karan Sharma (4), who edged an attempted cut to short third man. By the end of the powerplay, Lucknow had slipped to 37 for 3, with Gujarat very much in the contest. GT kept LSG on the backfoot as Sai Kishore beat Ayush Badoni (8) in flight and had him stumped.
Marcus Stoinis (2) and Jason Holder (1) were dismessed in the 12th over. Stoinis was run out following a confusion with Deepak Hooda, while Holder was trapped leg-before by a Rashid leg-break to add up to the woes.
