On a night when the express pace of Mayank Yadav lasted just the solitary over, it was another young Indian pacer in Yash Thakur who led the Lucknow Super Giants to their first-ever win over the Gujarat Titans in Indian Premier League history.
Chasing 164 runs at Lucknow’s Ekana Stadium on Sunday, Thakur’s five-wicket haul and a miserly spell from Krunal Pandya saw the Titans bundled out for 130 to help the Super Giants to a 33-run win.
Having opted to bat first, captain KL Rahul (33) and Marcus Stoinis (58) laboured to score runs in their respective innings after Umesh Yadav had reduced Lucknow to 18/2 in the third over.
Rahul and Stoinis put up 73 runs off 62 balls before handy cameos from Nicolas Pooran (32) and Ayush Badoni (20) took the home side to 163/5.
The Titans started strongly in their chase with captain Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan took them past 50 in the powerplay.
However, Thakur got rid of Gill off the last ball of the powerplay before Krunal Pandya and Ravi Bishnoi reduced the Titans to 61/4. Pandya finished his quota of four overs after picking up three wickets while giving away just 11 runs.
Rahul Tewatia threatened to snatch the win late on but Thakur grabbed his wicket before completing his five-wicket haul by getting the last wicket.
Turning point of the match
After the Titans got off to a good start in the powerplay, KL Rahul brought his frontline spinners Pandya and Bishnoi into the attack. And in the span on two overs, the duo turned the match around in the home side’s favour.
Bishnoi took a stunning catch off his own bowling to dismiss the experienced Kane Williamson in the eighth over.
Pandya then got the big wicket of the settled Sudharsan and new batter BR Sharath in the same over to reduce the Titans to 61/4 and make Lucknow firm favourites to win the match.
The Field’s player of the match
In Mayank Yadav’s absence, Yash Thakur grabbed the spotlight. He drew first blood for his side by getting rid of the dangerous Gill with a superb yorker.
He then came back in the 15th over to get rid of Vijay Shankar and Rashid Khan in a double wicket maiden over. Thakur ended the Titans’ resistance by dismissing Tewatia before wrapping up the win by completing his five-wicket haul.
Points Table
| Position | Team | Played | Won | Lost | Net Run Rate | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rajasthan Royals | 4 | 4 | 0 | 1.120 | 8 |
| 2 | Kolkata Knight Riders | 3 | 3 | 0 | 2.518 | 6 |
| 3 | Lucknow Super Giants | 4 | 3 | 1 | 0.775 | 6 |
| 4 | Chennai Super Kings | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.517 | 4 |
| 5 | Sunrisers Hyderabad | 4 | 2 | 2 | 0.409 | 4 |
| 6 | Punjab Kings | 4 | 2 | 2 | -0.220 | 4 |
| 7 | Gujarat Titans | 5 | 2 | 3 | -0.797 | 4 |
| 8 | Mumbai Indians | 4 | 1 | 3 | -0.704 | 2 |
| 9 | Royal Challengers Bengaluru | 5 | 1 | 4 | -0.843 | 2 |
| 10 | Delhi Capitals | 5 | 1 | 4 | -1.370 | 2 |
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