Killer Miller, Captain Pandya take Gujarat franchise to IPL final

KOLKATA, May 24: David Miller hit three effortless sixes which looked like action replays as Gujarat Titans, under their inspirational skipper Hardik Pandya, made a mockery of all the odds to reach the final of IPL-15 with a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals on Tuesday.
On a track that was two-paced, Royals rode on Jos Buttler’s 56-ball-89 to post 188 for six in 20 overs, which seemed like a winning total considering the pressure of the occasion.
But Pandya (40 no off 27 balls) and Miller (68 off 38 balls) added 101 runs in exactly 10 overs to seal the deal with three balls to spare.
For a team which many tipped to finish last because of some out-of-the-box picks, turned out to be the most consistent and will now play the final in front of its home crowd at the Narendra Modi Stadium, with more than 100,000 people cheering them on.
No praise is enough for new ‘Captain Cool’ Pandya, who always looked in control even when things didn’t seem to go his team’s way.
One of the cleanest hitters, Pandya took the game deep with some well-placed boundaries which allowed Miller to take his time before unleashing five huge sixes — three off the last over from Prasidh Krishna, when the bowler completely lost his nerve.
The best part about Pandya’s captaincy was not taking any risks against the opposition’s best bowler Yuzvendra Chahal (0/32 in 4 overs) but left it to his partner, who hit two huge sixes to ease the pressure.
Once Trent Boult (1/38 in 4 overs) and Chahal were done, it was left to the day’s worst performer, Obed McCoy (1/40 in 4 overs), to bowl a good 19th over with Titans requiring 23 off 12 balls.
McCoy used his back of the hand slower balls to perfection as only seven came off the over, leaving Krishna with 16 runs to defend but it took Miller three balls to nail it, all in the length slots.
At the start of chase, Wriddhiman Saha (0) was all at sea against Boult and edged one that moved in and then straightened after pitching. Matthew Wade (35 off 30 balls) and Shubman Gill (35 off 21 balls) didn’t let it affect their batting as they added 72 for the second wicket to keep the chase on course.
Gill started slowly but then launched into Ravichandran Ashwin with a six over long-off followed by two boundaries on both sides of the square.
Wade also carried on briskly before a big mix-up ended in Gill’s run-out.
Skipper Pandya started with a square cut off McCoy before the bowler got Wade in the same over when Buttler took a well-judged catch at deep mid-wicket.
Earlier, Buttler enjoyed copious amount of luck and displayed a fair bit of pluck during an innings of 89, which took Rajasthan Royals to a challenging total after being put into bat.
The Orange Cap-holder Buttler, who had failed to get his act together in the second half of the season, got off to a slow start but made full use of a couple of dropped catches during his knock, which was studded with 12 fours and two sixes. (PTI)

Scoreboard
Rajasthan Royals
Yashasvi Jaiswal c W Saha b Yash Dayal 3
Jos Buttler run out 89
Sanju Samson c Alzarri Joseph b Sai Kishore 47
Devdutt Padikkal b Hardik Pandya 28
Shimron Hetmyer c Rahul Twetia b M Shami 4
Riyan Parag run out 4
Ravichandran Ashwin not out 2
Trent Boult not out 0
Extras: (w-10, nb-1) 11
Total: 188/6 in 20 overs
Fall of wickets: 11-1, 79-2, 116-3, 161-4, 185-5, 186-6
Bowling: Mohammed Shami 4-0-43-1, Yash Dayal 4-0-46-1, Alzarri Joseph 2-0-27-0, Rashid Khan 4-0-15-0, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 4-0-43-1, Hardik Pandya 2-0-14-1.
Gujarat Titans
Wriddhiman Saha c Samson b Boult 0
Shubman Gill run out (Padikkal/Hetmyer) 35
Matthew Wade c Jos Buttler b Obed McCoy 35
Hardik Pandya not out 40
David Miller not out 68
Extras: (lb 1, w 11, nb 1,) 13
Total: (3 wkts, 19.3 Ov) 191
Fall of Wickets: 0-1, 72-2, 85-3
Bowling: Trent Boult 4-0-38-1, Prasidh Krishna 3.3-0-40-0, Ravichandran Ashwin 4-0-40-0, Yuzvendra Chahal 4-0-32-0, Obed McCoy 4-0-40-1.

Today’s fixture
LSG V/s RCB – 7.30 PM