In front of a raucous home crowd, Gujarat Titans outclassed Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets to claim the Indian Premier League title here on Sunday.
The packed house at the Narendra Modi Stadium, which housed a little over 1,00,000 spectators on the night, brought the roof down when Shubman Gill hit the winning runs.
Standout side
The win completed a remarkable campaign for Gujarat, one of two new teams in the IPL. From dominating the group stage games to staying unbeaten in the playoff rounds, Gujarat has been the standout side of the tournament.
Chasing 131, Gujarat overcame a slow start to finish in style. Captain Hardik Pandya (34, 30b, 3x4, 1x6) and Gill (45 n.o., 43b, 3x4, 1x6) took the side to a comfortable position with a 63-run third-wicket stand.
There were a few tense faces in the stands when Hardik edged Yuzvendra Chahal to slip, but next man David Miller eased all nerves with a polished unbeaten 32.
Gill was fortunate to get a reprieve in the first over, when he was yet to open his account. An inside edge off Trent Boult lobbed to Chahal who put down an easy catch at square-leg. Shimron Hetmyer failed to grab a tough chance, running back from cover, when Hardik was on three.
It came as a surprise when Royals chose to bat first. Royals had won its previous match chasing, and had lost the Qualifier 1 to Titans when batting first. Royals skipper Sanju Samson justified the decision at the toss ceremony, stating that the pitch wore a dry look.
The move did not work, as Rajasthan finished with a low score. Hardik was the wrecker-in-chief, picking up three big wickets. Pandya kept an awkward length outside off, making it difficult for the batters to put him away. In dismissing his opposite number Samson, Jos Buttler and Hetmyer, Hardik crushed the core of the Royals batting.
Rashid Khan, who extracted turn with his quick, flat deliveries, also proved to be a handful. The Afghanistan spinner and Hardik conceded just 35 runs in the eight overs they bowled.
Royals were down in a hole after the departure of Jos Buttler (39, 35b, 5x4). Buttler, the man in form after his unbeaten century on Friday, was uncharacteristically subdued. He struggled to get it off the square, eventually falling to a tame nick off Hardik.
Out of sorts
Devdutt Padikkal was utterly out of sorts in his 10-ball two. When Buttler and Padikkal were together, the run-rate slowed down dramatically. Things did not get much better later, as the batters who followed failed to fire.
Opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (22, 16b, 1x4, 2x6) got a couple of sweet blows off the bat, until he mistimed a pull off Yash Dayal to R. Sai Kishore at deep square-leg.
Dayal (1/18) and Mohammed Shami (1/33) were impressive with the new ball.
