In the game between the new IPL teams, Gujarat Titans scraped home with a 5-wicket win in the last over of the match against the Lucknow Super Giants. Both sides saw their top order struggle and get out cheaply before their middle order bailed them out. It was a match dominated by the pacers and two IPL debutants – Ayush Badoni and Abhinav Manohar (Sadarangani) – showing signs of what people can expect from them in the future. Let’s look at some of the key moments from game four of the 2022 IPL.
Sensational Shami
Mohammed Shami was sensational in the opening game for the Gujarat Titans, picking up figures of 3/25 off his four overs. Shami was at his best in the opening spell of the match, where he almost knocked the Super Giants out of the competition inside the Powerplay.
The key to Shami’s bowling was his balls delivered with an upright seam. In this age of variations and an increase of cross-seam balls, Shami stuck to what he’s best at and gained huge rewards for it. All three of his dismissals were off the balls that moved slightly in the air but a bit more after pitching. Bowling on a good length, and keeping it straight forced the batters to play at balls, and yet, they were unable to cover the line because of the movement that Shami generated off the pitch.
Sticking to good length and keeping it straight meant that batters had to manufacture shots rather than be allowed to score easily, which they never could. Due to this, Shami ended the powerplay with figures of 3/10 off his three overs.
‘Good Length’ proved to be the best length
Mumbai’s Wankhede Stadium has shorter boundaries, and that allows batters to bat with more freedom, especially to balls either pitched on a fuller length or balls that are short-pitched. Titans’ plans were simple yet highly effective. All three bowlers who bowled in the powerplay had the same plan – bowl in the good length area and keep the line straight. The result – Super Giants scoring just 32 runs in the Powerplay, losing four wickets.
Titans’ bowlers bowled only two balls in the fuller length area. They kept the batters guessing whether to commit to the front foot or stay back. This was particularly evident from Shami’s wickets, where the batters were slightly tentative and not fully committed on either foot. Shami’s opening spell didn’t have a single full-pitched or short-pitched ball.
Conservative Captaincy
The match wasn’t short of some slightly questionable decisions, and both captains were guilty of not going for the kill and playing it safe.
After a brilliant opening spell from Shami that reduced the Lucknow Super Giants to 32/4, Hardik Pandya could’ve gone for the kill and bowled out Shami. But instead, he came on to bowl. Pandya’s first two overs were economical, but they were nowhere close to the threatening levels of Shami. By holding Shami, Titan’s strike bowler, back, Pandya showed a bit of conservative thinking on his captaincy debut. When Shami finally came back to finish his quota of overs, he ended up conceding 15 runs off the 18th over.
Lucknow spin bowlers had an exceptional middle-overs phase, with Krunal Pandya, Ravi Bishnoi, and Deepak Hooda combining for figures of 2/43 off nine overs. However, with 68 needed off the last five overs, and with dew setting in nicely, the need of the hour was to bring back pacers, especially when they had six overs between them to bowl the last five.
KL Rahul stuck with Deepak Hooda to bowl the 16th over, and that proved to be the turning point. Hooda conceded 22 runs off the over, and Ravi Bishnoi gave away 17 in the 17th over to leave the Titans chasing just 29 runs off 18 balls. Both the spinners struggled with dew, and that meant less grip for the ball off the surface. The ball came on nicely and with set batters at the crease, the spinners were taken to cleaners. Dushmantha Chameera, Lucknow’s best bowler on show, ended up bowling just three overs.
It is still early days in the 2022 Tata IPL, but the teams and their captains will need to be proactive and bold enough to try and win the matches rather than wait for the opposition to commit mistakes.