IPL 2022: Gujarat Titans successfully defend 156; defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by eight runs

Gujarat Titans bowling attack successfully defended 156 to defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by eight runs at DY Patil Stadium on SaturdayDespite losing seven wickets in the last five overs after Hardik Pandyas 67 to end at 1569 Gujarats bowling attack clicked in unison taking four wickets in the first seven oversThey were also aided by fielders taking some stunning catches to restrict Kolkata to 1488 in 20 overs The result means that Gujarat are now on top of the points tableWith a new opening combination in Sam Billings and Sunil Narine Kolkatas hopes of a blistering start began well when the former brought out a glorious straight drive against Mohammed Shami But Shami had the last laugh as Billings topedged a pull to wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha Shami then setup Narine with two short balls on body and then slipped one on hips which the batter pulled uncomfortably to a diving short fine legNitish Rana fell cheaply forced to poke at a Lockie Ferguson delivery and took a healthy edge behind to Saha as Gujarat successfully overturned not out decision Shreyas Iyer had begun to look comfortable at the crease but was undone by over the wicket angle from Yash Dayal and nicked behind to SahaRinku Singh found the boundary rope five times in his stay of 35 and shared a 45run stand with Venkatesh Iyer But in an attempt to smash Yash Dayal over midwicket Rinku could only manage a bottom edge going behind to Saha Venkatesh tried to slogsweep Rashid Khan but Abhinav Manohar took a stunning catch just in front of deep midwicket boundary ropeIn between Andre Russell got his first boundary with a thickish edge off Dayal over Sahas head On the next ball Russell tried to fend a Dayal bouncer with his bat but the ball flew straight off his bat to fine leg But Dayals jubilation was cut short as replays showed front foot no ball Russell rubbed salt on wounds by thumping Dayal on backtoback sixes to end an eventful 13th overRussell then smacked a Ferguson full toss over longoff Khan got out Shivam Mavi and almost had Umesh Yadav lbw with the googly but replays showed ball missing the stumps With 45 needed off 24 balls Russell upper cut Shami over backward point for six Umesh cleared his front leg to swat Ferguson over deep midwicket for six moreRussell hit a six down the ground off Dayal but could manage five runs off rest of the over for the equation to read as 18 off the final over On the first ball Russell smashed an Alzarri Joseph full toss over longon for a huge sixBut Joseph had the last laugh as Russell mistimed a pull to fine leg immediately That turned out to be a decisive blow for Kolkata as Joseph conceded two one followed by successive dots to seal a close win for GujaratBrief Scores Gujarat Titans 1569 in 20 overs Hardik Pandya 67 David Miller 27 Andre Russell 45 Tim Southee 324 beat Kolkata Knight Riders 1488 in 20 overs Andre Russell 48 Rinku Singh 35 Mohammed Shami 220 Rashid Khan 222 by eight runsThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute discretion for any reason whatsoever