Miller special powers Gujarat Titans into IPL 2022 Final

The Gujarat Titans booked their spot in the IPL final with their dramatic last-over victory over the Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata. After Jos Buttler’s 89 off 56 took the Royals to 188 for six, the Titans chased down the target with three balls to spare thanks to an incredible unbeaten 106-run partnership between Hardik Pandya (40 off 27) and David Miller (68 off 38).

Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bowl first as the IPL shifted to Kolkata for the playoffs, but the Titans got off to a poor start in the powerplay as Jos Buttler creamed three off-side boundaries in Mohammed Shami’s opening spell. Although Yash Dayal had Yashasvi Jaiswal caught behind in the second over, Sanju Samson immediately put the pressure back on Gujarat as he stepped on the accelerator in the powerplay. Samson got off the mark with a six against Yash Dayal and raced away to 30 in 11 deliveries to help the Royals score 55 runs in the powerplay.

Rashid Khan put the brakes on the run-scoring upon his introduction in the seventh over, conceding just 15 runs in his spell of four overs without being hit for a single boundary. The pressure Rashid created saw Sanju Samson lose his wicket while looking to take on R Sai Kishore and also caused Jos Buttler to struggle with his fluency, with the Englishman managing just 39 runs from his first 38 deliveries.

Buttler was offered a life on 42 when Hardik Pandya slipped at long-off while trying to take a catch, and following this reprieve, the opener unleashed carnage on the Gujarat bowlers at the death. Buttler laced four boundaries in the 17th over from Yash Dayal and scored 50 runs in the final four overs to take the Royals to a formidable total of 189.

In response, Gujarat lost Wriddhiman Saha in the first over when he nicked off to Trent Boult, but the Titans still managed to score 64 runs in the powerplay despite the early setback. Matthew Wade was the primary aggressor against the pacers – smashing five boundaries against Boult and Prasidh Krishna – while Shubman Gill attacked R Ashwin with a surgeon’s precision, creaming the off-spinner for a six and two fours in the sixth over.

However, after the promising start, both batters fell in a space of two overs as Gill was run-out following a mix-up while Matthew Wade pulled Obed McCoy to the man at the mid-wicket boundary. Coming in at number four, Hardik Pandya immediately got going as he scored 20 of his first nine balls to keep the asking rate in check. Pandya’s assault allowed Miller to get himself set, and after going at less than run a ball early on, the South African switched through the gears effortlessly. He hit a pair of sixes against Yuzvendra Chahal and drilled Obed McCoy for a couple of fours to reach a 35-ball half-century. 

The left-hander then sealed the victory with 16 needed off the final over, smashing Prasidh Krishna for three towering leg-side sixes in three balls to send the Titans into their maiden IPL final.