MILL & BOON
Dashing David takes Gujarat debutants to dream final
Kolkata, May 24: David Miller hit three effortless sixes which looked like action replays as Gujarat Titans, under their inspirational skipper Hardik Pandya, made a mockery of all the odds to reach the final of IPL-15 with a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday.
On a track that was twopaced, Royals rode on Jos Buttler’s 56-ball-89 to post
188 for six in 20 overs, which seemed like a winning total considering the pressure of the occasion. But Pandya (40 no off 27 balls) and Miller (68 off 38 balls) added 101 runs in exactly 10 overs to seal the deal with three balls to spare.
For a team which many tipped to finish last because of some out-of-thebox picks, turned out to be the most consistent and will now play the final in front of its home crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium, with more than
100,000 people cheering them on.
One of the cleanest hitters, Pandya took the game deep with some well-placed boundaries which allowed Miller to take his time before unleashing five huge sixes — three off the last over from Prasidh Krishna, when the bowler completely lost his nerve.
The best part about Pandya’s captaincy was not taking any risks against the opposition’s best bowler Yuzvendra Chahal (0/32 in 4 overs) but left it to his partner, who hit two sixes to ease pressure.
Once Trent Boult
(1/38 in 4 overs) and Chahal were done, it was left to the day’s worst performer, Obed McCoy (1/40 in 4 overs), to bowl a good
19th over with Titans requiring 23 off 12 balls.
McCoy used his back of the hand slower balls to perfection as only seven came off the over, leaving Krishna with 16 runs to
defend but it took Miller three balls to nail it, all in the length slots.
At the start of chase, Wriddhiman Saha (0) was all at sea against Boult and edged one that moved in and then straightened after pitching. Matthew Wade (35 off 30 balls) and Shubman Gill (35 off 21 balls) didn’t let it affect their batting as they added
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72 for the second wicket to keep the chase on course.
Earlier, Buttler enjoyed copious amount of luck and displayed a fair bit of pluck during an innings of
89, which took Rajasthan Royals to a challenging total after being put into bat. Buttler scored 39 off his first 38 balls and then smashed another 50 off his next 18 deliveries.