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Gujarat Titans are the IPL champions

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Nobody gave them a chance but Gujarat Titans, bucking all pre-tournament predictions, surprised everyone by lifting the Indian Premier League title in a dream maiden season.

Hardik Pandya was the star of the day for the Gujarat Titans.

He picked 3 for 17 and then scored a 30-ball 34 as the Titans pulled off a crushing 7-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals at the Narendra Modi Stadium.

The Titans, playing their maiden season of the Indian Premier League, were absolutely ruthless in their approach, throughout the tournament.
They finished on top of the points table after winning 10 of their 14 matches and then defeated Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 to book a spot in the final.

In the title clash, Gujarat Titans were the much better team after Hardik Pandya led from the front.

Royals splutter at start

Rajasthan did not have the best of starts after skipper Sanju Samson decided to put runs on the board in a big final.

Both the openers, Buttler and Jaiswal were relatively subdued.

Gujarat bowlers were able to maintain the pressure though Jos Buttler (39 of 35) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (22 off 16) tried to break free.

After pulling Yash Dayal for a massive six over long leg, Jaiswal tried one too many and was caught in the deep.

Sanju Samson joined Buttler and Hardik’s response was immediate.

Knowing well that both the Rajasthan right-handers struggle against Rashid Khan, Hardik brought on the star spinner in the powerplay itself.

Though they didn’t risk playing shots against Rashid, it created a bout of pressure.

As a result, Samson fell bring a pull shot only to be caught on the off-side off Hardik.

The turning point happened in the space of three balls when both Buttler and Padikkal departed.

Next, Hardik made it 94 for five by having the dangerous Shimron Hetmyer caught and bowled.

In the very next over, Ashwin too was dismissed, ending Royals’ hope of posting a big score.

Gujarat face early setbacks

The pace duo of Trent Boult and Prasidh Krishna were brilliant in the powerplay.

They reduced Gujarat to 31 for two with Wriddhiman Saha (5) and Matthew Wade (8) back in the dugout.

Krishna got one to seam back in from good length to breach Saha’s defence and crash into the stumps.

Boult, who also bowled a maiden over in his tidy spell, removed Wade.

Gujarat would have been three down in the powerplay if Yuzvendra Chahal held on to a simple catch of Gill off Boult in the first over of the innings.

Hardik and Gill take control

Hardik and Gill struggled to hit boundaries but the asking rate remained very much in control.

Things changed when R Ashwin was introduced in the 12th over.

Hardik decided to go after him, collecting a four and six off successive balls to bring up the 50-run stand with Gill.

Hardik managed to score a rapid 34 off 30 balls that helped Gujarat gain the momentum.

Chahal snagged Hardik in the 14th over, with Titans 45 away from victory.

However, Shubman Gill and David Miller coolly took Gujarat over the line.

Miller, one of the success stories for GT remained unbeaten on 32.

Teams:

Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (w), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Lockie Ferguson, Yash Dayal, Mohammed Shami

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samso (w/c), Devdutt Padikkal, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Ravichandran Ashwin, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Obed McCoy, Yuzvendra Chahal.

Gujarat Titans 133 for 3 (Gill 45*, Hardik 34, Boult 1-14) beat Rajasthan Royals130 for 9 (Buttler 39, Hardik 3-17, Sai Kishore 2-20) by seven wickets

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Smriti Mandhana and Ellyse Perry star in RCB women’s comeback win against UP Warriorz in WPL 2024

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Smriti Mandhana and Alyssa Healy (Source - X)

RCB women overcame UP Warriorz by 23 runs to clinch their third win of the season. The home side outperformed Warriorz in all the facets of the game and emerged victorious. A collective team effort, particularly with the bat, helped RCB women to beat Warriorz for the second time in the season. They now have three wins in their five matches in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy won the toss and opted to field first. Given how things have panned out in the league so far, it needed a great batting performance from RCB to challenge the chasing side. The home side did exactly that. They were full of intent which was lacking in the last few games. Right from the start, S Meghana and Smriti Mandhana smashed the bowlers.

It was the night of the RCB skipper. The Southpaw scored 80(50) in her stay. S Meghana perished after a valuable 28(21). Ellyse Perry batted well and registered her first fifty of the WPL 2024. She was aided well towards the end by Richa Ghosh whose 21(10) propelled RCB to a score of 198 on the board. It was the highest team total in the WPL 2024.

Alyssa Healy’s efforts go in vain

Chasing the daunting total, UP Warriorz were off to a flier. The opening duo of Healy and Kiran Navgire gave a fiery start to the visiting side. When the two were batting in the PP overs, it seemed like the Warriorz could pull off an insane chase. However, Sophie Devine brought RCB back into the game with crucial wickets. At Bengaluru, the home crowd was literally behind the RCB women.

It helped the home side to stay calm and do their job with ease. Sophie Molineux and Asha Sobhana were the pick of the bowlers, who claimed 2/29 each in their spell of four overs. While Healy scored a fifty and Deepti tried her best in the death overs, ten daunting targets could not be chased down. Despite the early hiccups, RCB managed to restrict UP Warriorz to a score of 175 and won by 23 runs.

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WATCH: Ellyse Perry in disbelief as her six breaks car’s window

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Ellyse Perry smashed a six in the match against UP Warriorz in the WPL 2024. It was an interesting six as the ball travelled towards the boundary ropes and fell exactly on the window of the car. As a result, the glass of the window was broken. The car is set to be provided as a reward for the player of the tournament.

It was the over of Deepti Sharma towards the last few moments of RCB’s innings. Before Perry struck, the home side was in a great position in the match, thanks to a great start provided by Smriti Mandhana. The star batter scored 80 (50) and shined in front of the home crowd. Her form helped RCB to have a good momentum towards the death overs.

Watch the viral video here –

Perry, who was struggling till that point, opened up and smashed the bowlers for fun. She went hard against the spinners like Rajeshwari Gayakwad and Deepti Sharma who were asked to bowl at the death. The right-handed batter smashed back-to-back sixes in the over of Sharma. One of those travelled towards the mid-wicket region where the car was stationed. The video of her shot has gone viral on X.

RCB teammates laugh, Ellyse Perry in disbelief

As the ball fell on the car and damaged the window, the fans erupted. There was no end to the joy of the fans who started chanting “Perry.. Perry..” and lit the atmosphere of the stadium. However, Perry was in disbelief. As she saw the impact of the ball damaging the car’s window, the Australian batter could not believe her eyes and thought about what she had just done.

On the other hand, the RCB teammates of Perry were in awe of the shot. They looked at the replays and appreciated the shot of Perry. At the same time, players like Sophie Molineux and Sophie Devine had a laugh about the car’s window getting damaged. Ellyse scored a fifty and helped her team score 198 runs with her batting in front of the home crowd.

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Praveen Kumar addresses Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer’s negligence of taking part in Ranji Trophy

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Praveen Kumar

Praveen Kumar has given his opinion on the preferences of Ishan Kishan and Shreyas Iyer in recent times. The duo did not take part in the Ranji Trophy matches for their respective teams despite being fit. It did not go well with the Indian Cricket Board which landed the duo without a ventral contract which was announced a few days back.

Praveen Kumar has reacted to the issue recently. The former India pacer claimed that he has been of an opinion on the issue for a long time. Praveen felt that one should definitely earn money but not at the cost of neglecting to play for domestic and national teams. The right-arm pacer felt that players today are having a certain mentality which is not good.

The former pacer claimed that the players have a mindset that they can rest for a month before taking part in the IPL, thereby bypassing playing for their national team or the domestic teams. Praveen felt that the players could not resist letting go of money which they could earn by taking part in the IPL and other T20 leagues (For foreign players).

‘Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun’ – Praveen Kumar

“This thing is now firmly in the mind of players. Mai ek mahine pehle rest kar lunga, fir IPL khel lunga. Ye mentally hota hai, ki mai itne paise kaise chodun,” said Praveen in the interview. He claimed that youngsters these days are spoilt and are behind money. The former RCB pacer felt that it is not fair on the part of the young players to neglect the country over the IPL.

Kumar felt that a player needs to maintain a balance between playing for the IPL team and for the country. He felt that money is an important factor, but not at the cost of playing for the national team. “But this is not fair at all. A player needs to balance things. Money is important, but this (giving franchise cricket the priority) is wrong,” said the former Indian bowler in the interview.

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