Hardik means business this season
Skipper impresses with a responsible knock to help Gujarat Titans beat Rajasthan Royals by 37-runs
Skipper Hardik Pandya led from the front with an unbeaten half-century as Gujarat Titans beat Rajasthan Royals by 37 runs in an IPL match here on Thursday.
Hardik smahed an unbeaten 87 off 52 balls to guide Titans to 192 for four after being invited to bat. Hardik decorated his knock with eight fours and four sixes.
Titans' bowlers then picked up wickets at regular intervals to restrict Royals to 155 for nine.
Jos Buttler top-scored for Royals with a 24-ball 54.
Lockie Ferguson (3-23) and
Yash Dayal (3-40) shared six wickets between them for Titans.
Earlier, Pandya impressed with another responsible knock.
Hardik first found an able ally in Abhinav Manohar (43 off 28) before he exploded in the company of David Miller (31 not out off 14) to power the IPL debutants to their highest score of the tournament.
Hardik and Manohar shared an 86-run stand for the fourth wicket before the skipper and Miller blasted 53 off 25 balls to end the innings in style.
To start with, Hardik was aggressive on pacer Kuldeep as he hammered him for three successive boundaries in the fifth over.
He then fetched his first maximum in the seventh over, when he clobbered Riyan Parag over his head.
The duo upped the ante when Manohar launched into inform Yuzvendra Chahal, hammering him for a four and maximum.
BRIEF SCORES: GT: 192-4 in 20 overs (Hardik Pandya 87 n.o, Abhinav Manohar 43, David Miller 31 n.o.; Riyan Parag 1-12) beat RR 155-9 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 54, Shimron Hetmyer 29; Yash Dayal 3-40, Lockie Ferguson 3-23) by 37 runs.