(Cricket news) Yesterday when Chahal dropped Shubman Gill at short square it was curtains for the Royals and the famous ‘you have just dropped the cup, mate’ moment said one commentator as that was the fourth delivery of Gujarat Titans’ run-chase, pursuing a modest target of 131 which Shubman Gill and co went onto to chase easily in the end. For Titans they deserved a little bit of luck considering that they have been the most consistent side across the 16 matches that they played in their first IPL season, they have shown a collective team effort that took them to the top of the IPL standings and weren’t reliant on individual players in the squad as Hardik Pandya brilliantly led his troops from the front.

It was the future Indian sensation Shubman Gill who hit the winning shot for an excellent six over deep backward square-leg off Obed McCoy, sending the ball into the record crowd of the 1,04,859 crowd that assembled to witness a spectacular night for the home team in Ahmedabad. Gill remained unbeaten on 45, and played an anchor role with stands of 63 with his skipper Hardik Pandya and a 47 run partnership for the fourth wicket with David Miller who was not out on 32. The Final was as one-sided as it could be, a lot was expected from the top two teams that finished No. 1 and 2 at the end of the league stage.Titans produced an amazing bowling performance courtesy Hardik Pandya who picked up 3 wickets for just 18 runs and made it totally a lop-sided affair after restricting Royals to a mere 130 for nine. This was subsequently the second-lowest total in the IPL finals which was not going to win the Royals the match,

The pitch for the final was the same one that was used for the second qualifier that RR won quite comfortably against RCB Friday night. There was good bounce on the pitch and swing initially, but being a final Royals captain Sanju Samson reckoned that the setting a total would be better as he did not want to bat when there was more wear and tear in the second innings. The likes of Lockie Ferguson and Mohammed Shami initially got some extra bounce for the second successive match while the spinners did not enjoy much bowling on this pitch. 

Rashid Khan still produced a very economical spell which kept the batters in check. Titans throughout the match had the Royals on a leash in the final. They did not let them run away, containing them to only 44 runs in the powerplay, and were magnificent  from over  7 to 15 where they only conceded 50 runs for four wickets of Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer. It was Hardik Pandya who was ultimately the chief destroyer for RR as he produced his best IPL bowling figures and took the crucial wickets of Buttler, Samson and Hetmyer

Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals: 130/9 in 20 overs (Jos Buttler 39; Rashid Khan 1/18, Hardik Pandya 3/17).

Gujarat Titans: 133/3 in 18.1 overs (Hardik Pandya 34, Shubman Gill 45 not out).

Also read: Hardik showed eagerness to learn as captain, engaged with all of his teammates: Kirsten