With 71 runs required in the final six overs, it was a matter of just one over that shifted the momentum towards Gujarat Titans after the Lucknow spinners tightened the noose. The game shifted in Gujarat’s favour in the 16th over when Tewatia and Miller combined for two fours and two sixes off Deepak Hooda. “The wicket was so good that Miller and I were discussing that we would take it deep and it’s a matter of just one over,” Tewatia, who remained unbeaten on 24-ball 40 said after the game. “After I hit that six with the reverse sweep, that got Bishnoi thinking,” he added.

However, Miller was dismissed with Gujarat needing 20 runs in the final two balls. Also plating his maiden IPL game, young Abhinav Manohar kept his cool to hit three fours in that pressure situation to take the game away from Lucknow. “Abhinav (Manohar) is a clean striker of the ball, so I had full trust in him that he would come and play his shots straight away. It’s a big thing to do it in your first game. I gave him the strike because I know he is a proper batter and can hit big shots” added Tewatia. Meanwhile, Lucknow skipper KL Rahul too credited Tewatia and Manohar for the innings they played under pressure.

“Credit to Tewatia and Abhinav as well,” he said. Earlier, Deepak Hooda and young Ayush Badoni hit fifties under pressure to steer Lucknow from 29/4 to 158/6. “I think it was a phenomenal game. We know at the Wankhede the ball can do something initially. We couldn’t have started the campaign in a better way. The win would have been great but a still a lot to learn from this,” said Rahul. “We need to go back and practise a bit more with the wet ball. Credit to Tewatia and Abhinav as well. (On Ayush Badoni) He is the baby AB for us.

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Rahul Tewatia Reveals Gameplan After Win Vs Lucknow Super Giants

From the first day he was batting, it was unbelievable. He can hit the ball 360 degrees,” signed off Rahul. Pacer Mohammed Shami bowled a fiery opening spell before Rahul Tewatia smashed an unbeaten 40 to help Gujarat Titans register a 5-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants in their maiden IPL match here on Monday. Shami (3/25) bowled a fiery opening spell to knock the wind out of the Super Giants’ top order before Gujarat Titans Deepak Hooda (55 off 41 balls) and Ayush Badoni (54 off 41 balls) smashed the fifties to help their team post 158 for six.

Skipper Hardik Pandya (33), all-rounder Tewatia (40 not out), Matthew Wade (30) and David Miller (30) then rallied together to take the Titans over the line. Apart from Shami’s three, Varun Aaron picked two wickets (2/45) while Rashid Khan (1/27) accounted for one batter for the Titans. Dushmantha Chameera (2/22) was the pick of the bowlers for Super Giants. Batting first, Lucknow Super Giants made 158-6 in their quota of 20 overs. Lucknow Super Giants, one of the two new IPL franchises added to the competition this year along with Gujarat Titans, were reduced to 29-4 in 4.3 overs.

However debutant Ayush Bodani and Deepak Hooda batted superbly to rebuild the innings as they added 113 runs for the fifth wicket. Bodani made 54 in his debut IPL match, while Hooda was out for 55.The tormentor-in-chief for Lucknow was Shami, who picked up three wickets in his quota of four overs. Gujarat Titans achieved the target by losing just five wickets with four balls to spare. Rahul Tewatia, the top scorer for his side, remained unbeaten at 40. Skipper Hardik Pandya made 33, while Mathew Wade chipped in with 30.