Gujarat Titans and Kolkata Knight Riders faced each other in Match 35 of IPL 2022. GT skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to bat. This was the first instance of a team electing to bat first in IPL 2022. The Titans posted a total of 156-9 in the afternoon game.

In reply, KKR experimented with another opening combination. Sam Billings and Sunil Narine walked in as openers this time. Billings lost his wicket in the first over trying to play a pull shot off Mohammed Shami’s bowling.

In the 3rd over, Sunil Narine also got out trying to pull the slower ball of Shami towards on side. Lockie Ferguson at short fine leg did a good job to complete the catch diving towards his right. Hardik Pandya’s wife Natasa Stankovic was present in the stands supporting GT.

Her reaction after Narine’s dismissal was noteworthy as she broke into an impromptu dance routine.

Watch the video:

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Hardik Pandya plays another captain’s knock

Talking about GT’s batting, it was again skipper Hardik Pandya who took the responsibility of playing a big innings. Pandya top-scored with 67 runs off 49 balls, coming in to bat at no.3. His knock included 4 fours and 2 sixes. Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia also made some useful contributions with the bat.

Chasing 157, KKR kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Power hitter Andre Russell showed some fight scoring 48 runs off just 25 balls. However his dismissal in the final over almost put an end to Kolkata’s hopes.

For Gujarat Titans, Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal and Rashid Khan each picked 2 wickets. Gujarat Titans won the match by 8 runs. Hardik Pandya has displayed excellent batting form in IPL 2022. In 6 innings, he has scored 295 runs, averaging 73.75 and striking at 137. Only Rajasthan Royals’ Jos Buttler is ahead of him in the orange cap list.

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