Gujarat Titans (GT) continued their dominance in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) as they defeated Rajasthan Royals (RR) by seven wickets in Qualifier 1 to secure their place in the final.
Invited to bat first, RR posted 188/6 in their 20 overs on the back of Jos Buttler’s 56-ball 89 and skipper Sanju Samson’s 26-ball 47.
Rashid Khan may not have picked a wicket but he returned with the most economical bowling figures 0/15 in his four overs for the Titans.
In reply, GT lost Wriddhiman Saha for a second-ball duck but the duo of Shubman Gill and Matthew Wade put on 72 runs for the second wicket to keep their team in the chase.
The partnership between Gill and Wade ended due to a mix-up as the former got run out on 21-ball 35. Wade too fell for 35 a couple of overs later as the Titans found themselves in a spot of bother at 85/3.
With 104 needed off 63 balls, David Miller joined captain Hardik Pandya in the middle and the southpaw took the RR attack to the cleaners. The duo didn’t allow the Rajasthan bowlers to dictate terms and kept hitting boundaries to keep the required run-rate under check.
Miller was the main aggressor as he completed his half-century off 35 balls. In the final over, GT needed 16 runs and the left-hander smashed Prasidh Krishna for three consecutive sixes to overhaul the stiff target with three deliveries to spare.
While Miller remained unbeaten on 38-ball 68*, Hardik played the role of second fiddle to perfection and returned with 40 not out off 27 balls.
For his brutal batting display, David Miller received rich praises from the cricket fraternity on Twitter.
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