For the first time in the IPL on Sunday, Hardik Pandya of Gujarat Titans and Krunal Pandya of Lucknow Supergiants came face to face. In this match, Hardik won by defeating his elder brother. Gujarat won the big game by 56 runs. And now they have almost confirmed his place in the playoffs.
Lucknow captain Krunal Pandya won the toss and decided to bowl. This decision of Krunal proved wrong. Gujarat scored 227 runs for two wickets in 20 overs. In reply, the Lucknow team could only manage 171 runs for seven wickets in 20 overs.
Chasing the mammoth target of 228 runs, the Lucknow team got off to a great start. Kyle Mayers and Quinton de Kock gave the team a strong start. Both shared an 88-run partnership for the first wicket in 8.2 overs. After the dismissal of Mayers, de Kock stood at one end. But he got no support from the other end. De Kock was dismissed in the 16th over. He scored 70 runs off 41 balls.
Both opener batters performed brilliantly and didn’t get support from the middle-order batters. Deepak Hooda, 11, Marcus Stoinis, four and Nicholas Pooran were dismissed for three runs.
Former Indian cricketer and renowned commentator Aakash Chopra questioned the team management’s decision of sending Deepak Hooda at number 3 in the batting order because Deepak wasn’t in good form at all, and he scored 11 runs in just 11 balls which was exactly the opposite to the situation of the match.
“When it was Lucknow’s turn to bat, this team also batted well. Kyle Mayers and Quinton de Kock launched absolute rockets. More than 70 runs were scored in the first six overs. I mean, cat among the pigeons. Mayers got out, and Deepak Hooda came to bat. Many people might say that Deepak Hooda played slow and scored at a run-a-ball, but Deepak Hooda does not have form. Why did you send Deepak Hooda?” Aakash Chopra criticized the Lucknow team management’s decision.
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Aakash stated that we all know Deepak hasn’t had the form this season, and Stoinis, Pooran, and Badoni have the form you need. And that’s the turning point of the match.
“You, I and everyone know that he does not have form. What were your options – Marcus Stoinis, Nicholas Pooran, Ayush Badoni and Krunal Pandya, who batted at No. 3 in the last match? You went towards Deepak Hooda despite having so many options. You lost the momentum there.”
Gujarat has 16 points in 11 matches. This is Gujarat’s eighth victory. They have faced defeat in just three matches this season. On the other hand, this is Lucknow’s fifth defeat in 11 matches. They have got five wins. There is no result in one match. Lucknow has 11 points and is in the third position.
