IPL 2022: 3 reasons why GT won the final against a tough RR side

The Gujarat Titans (GT) thrashed the Rajasthan Royals (RR) by seven wickets on Sunday to win the Indian Premier League (IPL 2022) title in their maiden outing.

After a brilliant effort with the ball to restrict RR to 130 runs, GT chased down the total with 11 balls to spare. Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya forged a decent partnership to set up the run chase.

David Miller (32* off 19) also played a match-winning hand while Gill remained unbeaten on 45 off 43 deliveries to see the team through. Rajasthan did threaten at times to put Gujarat Titans on the backfoot, but Hardik and Co. managed to put up a team show to win the elusive title.

On that note, let's take a look at three reasons why GT won the final against a tough RR side.

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#3 Shubman Gill batting till the end

On a tricky Ahmedabad wicket, Gujarat needed someone to bat till the end to chase down the total against a star-studded Rajasthan bowling unit. Shubman Gill stepped up to the task after Wriddhiman Saha was knocked over in the second over.

Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna asked a few difficult questions with the new ball but the 22-year-old negated them well. A dropped chance in the first over of the run chase also augured well for the Titans opener.

Gill cashed in on the opportunity and remained unbeaten to chase down the total. He played a valiant knock of 45 runs off 43 deliveries, including three boundaries and a six to take GT to the illustrious trophy.

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#2 Rashid Khan's economical bowling in the middle overs

The Afghan spin wizard is arguably the best leg-spinner in the world at present and he didn't disappoint in the final on Sunday.

While he picked up the solitary wicket of Devdutt Padikkal, Rashid dominated the proceedings in the middle overs. He piled on the pressure on the RR batters, bowling at an economy of 4.5 runs per over.

The 23-year-old kept things tight from one end, leaving no option for the RR batters but to go after the rest of the bowlers. They ended up losing too many wickets trying to score quick runs against other bowlers.

On the contrary, Rajasthan failed to put the GT batters under pressure, with off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin leaking too many runs to make the run chase easy.

Gujarat scored 32 runs off Ashwin's three overs to ease up the scoreboard pressure which allowed them to keep things simple against the other bowlers.

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#1 Hardik Pandya's all-round show

The GT captain has been a different beast altogether in IPL 2022, leading his side from the front. He has scored runs, picked up wickets and was spot on with his field placements and bowling changes.

There were a lot of question marks over his bowling but Hardik Pandya silenced all his critics, returning with figures of 3/17 in his four overs. His wickets included the three biggest scalps, namely Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer.

The 28-year-old all-rounder capped off his IPL campaign with a crucial knock of 34 runs, which included three boundaries and one six. He nullified RR's bowling threat to put the Titans ahead in the run chase.

All in all, Hardik Pandya made the difference between the two finalists on Sunday.