Gujarat Titans win IPL in maiden season

Gujarat Titans won IPL 2022 after a crushing 7-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday night. Gujarat Titans, bucking all pre-tournament predictions, surprised everyone by lifting the Indian Premier League title in a dream maiden season.  They finished on top of the points table after winning 10 of their 14 matches and then defeated Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 to book a spot in the final. Gujarat's highly-rated bowling attack, led by skipper Hardik Pandya (3/17) himself, limited a formidable Rajasthan Royals batting unit to 130 for nine after losing the toss. Shubman Gill and David Miller remained unbeaten on 45 and 32, respectively, to complete an emphatic win for their team.

In the title clash, Gujarat Titans were the much better team after Hardik Pandya led from the front. GT lost two early wickets but Hardik stitched a 63-run stand with top-scorer Shubman Gill (45 not out) to steer his side to victory in the final and wear the champions' crown. David Miller, who was one of the heroes for GT in a successful campaign, remained unbeaten on 32. Rashid Khan was brilliant once again. He was difficult to get away on a slow pitch and finished with 1 for 18 off his four overs. Sai Kishore also picked two wickets as GT rounded off a clinical performance with the ball. Chasing 131 for an IPL trophy in their debut season, the Titans got off to a poor start when Prasidh Krishna removed Wriddhiman Saha for 5 off 7 balls. Saha has had a good time with GT this summer but he failed in the playoffs - in Qualifier 2, he had been dismissed for a duck.

Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya added 63 for the 2nd wicket before Yuzvendra Chahal removed the Gujarat Titans captain for 34 off 30 balls. Pandya's innings was punctuated with 3 fours and 1 six in what was a true captain's knock. The pair was calm even after losing two early wickets and backed themselves to rotate the strike and punish the bad balls in a partnership which dashed RR's hopes of a second IPL triumph. After Hardik Pandya's dismissal, Shubman Gill was joined by David Miller and both batters took Gujarat Titans across the finish line to mark jubilant celebrations at the Narendra Modi Stadium.