Miller’s six-hitting spree helps Gujarat beat Royals by 7 wickets
David Miller hit three sixes in the last over to guide Gujarat Titans into the final of the IPL with a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in the first qualifier at Eden Gardens here on Tuesday. Miller remained unbeaten on 68 (38b, 3x4, 5x6) and along with captain Hardik Pandya who scored 40 not out (27b, 5x4), added 106 runs for the unbroken fourth wicket. Miller was oozing confidence and clobbered the hapless Prasidh Krishna for three towering sixes to close out the match in style.
Set to chase 189, Gujarat suffered an early blow losing the in-form Wriddhiman Saha for zero in the first over. It was then up to Shubman Gill and Matthew Wade to revive the innings and they did that with aplomb scoring briskly in the powerplay overs until Gill was run-out for 35 (21b, 5x4, 1x6). Wade perished soon after for an identical 35 with the team score on 85. The Orange Cap-holder Buttler, who had failed to get his act together in the second-half of the season, got off to a slow start but made full use of a couple of dropped catches during his 56-ball knock studded with 12 fours and two sixes.
Buttler, who now has 718 runs in 15 games, scored 39 off his first 38 balls and then smacked another 50 off his next 18 deliveries faced.
Buttler was also fortunate to get two reprieves first on 43 when Hardik Pandya slipped to miss a sitter, and then Rashid Khan grassed him on
69.
He then took on Alzarri Joseph smashing three boundaries in an over to accelerate his scoring before getting run-out in the final over.
First up, it was skipper Sanju Samson’s swagger that was on full display as the Rajasthan skipper, seemingly hurt by the latest selections snub, responded in style with a 26-ball 47 (5x4, 3x6).
At a time when Buttler struggled to get going, the wicketkeeper-batter dealt in boundaries in his entertaining powerplay display.
Samson shared 68-run stand with Buttler, of which 47 came off the former’s blade that summed up the domination from the Rajasthan skipper after it was put in.
He looked ominous from the first ball itself, when he lofted Dayal over long-on for an effortless six.
Titans pace duo of Mohammed Shami and Joseph struggled with their line and lengths as Samson made full use of that to take the score to 55/1 in six overs.
Brief scores:
Rajasthan Royals 188/6 in 20 overs (J Buttler 89, S Samson 47) lost to Gujarat Titans 191/3 in 19.3 overs (D Miller 68*, H Pandya 40*)