The Gujarat Titans (GT) climbed to the top of the table in the TATA Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022 after defeating the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by 37 runs on Thursday at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Hardik Pandya excelled in all three departments as the Gujarat Titans skipper steered the team to the top of the table with a 37-run victory. 

With 193 runs to chase, Jos Buttler announced his arrival in style and was dealing in boundaries after the right-handed batter scored 5 fours and a six in the first two overs. 

Devdutt Padikkal was caught at first slip on the first delivery he faced as Yash Dayal scalped his maiden IPL wicket. However, Buttler continued the flow of boundaries after smacking three fours and a six against Dayal in the third over. 

Ravi Ashwin, who was promoted up the order hit a six straight down the ground before the right-handed batter was caught by Miller, who took a sharp catch inside the circle. 

Buttler reached his half-century off just 23 deliveries with a six but a slower yorker from Lockie Ferguson castled the right-handed batter’s stumps. 

RR skipper Sanju Samson hit his first six of the innings in the 7^th over before a bullet throw from Hardik Pandya brought an end to Samson’s stay at the crease. 

Rassie van der Dussen was the next batter to be dismissed after the right-handed batter was caught behind for 6 off Dayal’s bowling. 

The equation was down to 91 off the last 8 overs for RR with Shimron Hetmyer and Riyan Parag at the crease. 

Hetmyer struck a four and a six against Shami but the pacer found success in the same over after Hetmyer mistimed a delivery and was caught in the deep. 

Riyan Parag flicked the first delivery of the 16^th over for six but was caught later in the deep off Ferguson’s bowling and RR required 55 from 24 deliveries. 

The GT skipper bowled the 18^th over and took a catch off his own bowling to dismiss Neesham. 

RR required 40 runs of the final over. Dayal scalped his third wicket of the innings as RR fell 38 runs short of the target.

Earlier, Gujarat Titans, who were put in to bat first, made two changes – Vijay Shankar and Yash Dayal were named in the eleven. 

James Neesham, who replaced the injured Boult, conceded three fours in the first over against Mathew Wade. 

Rassie van der Dussen produced a run-out to bring an end to Wade’s innings with a direct hit. Kuldeep Sen found an outside edge of Vijay Shankar to dismiss Vijay Shankar for 2 in the 3^rd over. 

Skipper Hardik Pandya counter-attacked and hit three consecutive fours against Kuldeep. 

GT were 42/2 at the end of powerplay. Riyan Parag conceded a six and a four in the next over but managed to dismiss Shubman Gill after the right-handed batter holed out to long-on. 

Skipper Hardik Pandya along with Abhinav Manohar kept the runs ticking and GT were 87/3 at the end of 12 overs. 

Abhinav Manohar smacked a four and a six against Chahal in the 13^th over. Hardik carried the momentum to the next over with three fours and notched his half-century.   

The 15^th over produced 16 runs after Pandya tonked back-to-back sixes against Ashwin. Chahal brought an end to the partnership after Abhinav was caught by Ashwin for 43. 

David Miller provided the finishing touch to the innings by hammering 5 fours and one six as 21 runs were scored in the penultimate over. 

Hardik remained unbeaten on 87 after the GT skipper creamed a four and six each as GT posted 192-4 in the first innings.  

Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans 192-4 (Hardik Pandya 87*, Abhinav Manohar 43; Yuzvendra Chahal 1-32) beat Rajasthan Royals 155-9 (Jos Buttler 54, Shimron Hetmyer 29; Lockie Ferguson 3-23) by 37 runs.