Gleanings from the final
1 The decision at the toss was a strange one. RR had won the last match chasing with their bowlers using the bounce in the pitch superbly and setting their batters a below-par total. They are a side that like to chase, that believe in chasing. Sanju Samson is on the record saying pitches change and help chasing sides in T20 cricket played in the night. Yet they chose to bat.
2 Is Jos Buttler's approach sustainable? It is perhaps necessitated by a thin batting line-up where R Ashwin bats at No. 7 but backloading as heavily as Buttler has done in two matches against GT leaves him no choice but to bat through and accelerate massively in the end. Against an attack of GT's quality, it is not always possible.
3 Hardik Pandya the bowler is great news. Pandya bowling without fear of injury and using his bounce and brains is great news for India. He bowled ahead of Sai Kishore because of a poor match-up for Kishore but then he saw the pitch had something in it and he went on to pick the big three of RR: Samson, Buttler and Hetmyer.
4 The best bowling unit has won. Titans had incredible depth in their bowling attack where they could afford to not even bowl one of the bowlers if the match-up wasn't great. In the end that side has prevailed.
On that note, thanks for following us here through this IPL. It was great fun. Do head over to our commentary for more from the celebrations and presentation.
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Sealed with a six
With a massive six over long leg, Shubman Gill takes Gujarat Titans home with 11 balls to spare. What a debut for the team. Even as others celebrate, Hardik Pandya just calmly accepts congratulations. Thorough performance in the final, defeating Rajasthan Royals for the third time this season.
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Under a run a ball now
David Miller hits a six off R Ashwin, against the turn, over long-on, the moment he overpitches, and that has brought the target down to 22 off the last four overs. Pandya will be a little relaxed now.
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Chahal keeps game alive
In his last over, Yuzvendra Chahal bowls a superb legbreak, quick-turning delivery from leg, to take the edge from Hardik Pandya and has him caught at slip. In the process, Chahal has secures himself the purple cap. Chahal's 27 wickets in this season are the most by a spinner in an IPL edition. It is also the second-highest for any spinner in a T20 tournament, behind Danny Briggs' 31 wickets in the 2010 English T20.
Pandya is livid. He wanted the third off the last ball, but was sent back. He believes he should not have been on strike. The first hing he does in the dugout is ask Rahul Tewatia if the third was on or not. He so wanted to be there to finish it off. Now Shubman Gill better do it or he might have to face a mighty unhappy captain.
GT need 42 off 36. They are 88% favourites to win.
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Pandya breaks open the chase
R Ashwin's introduction has been delayed till the 12th over. And after that superb performance in the Qualifier, it is Ashwin who goes for a four and a six to let GT ease their nerves. It is Hardik Pandya who takes him on. Now they are 92% favourites to win.
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RR not letting GT get away
Yuzvendra Chahal hasn't yet got the wicket that will secure his purple cap, but the bowling has been incisive from both the ends and Gujarat titans are struggling to break away. It's 38 for 2 in eight overs. Now they are 67% favourites to win.
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The only time a total of under 130 was defended successfully in an IPL final.
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This match is on
Hardik Pandya has to do it with the bat too now. Matthew Wade has found Riyan Parag to perfection at short midwicket. The ball has possibly stopped on him. On seeing the replay, yes it has. In comes Pandya. It's 25 for 2 in five overs. GT still 72% favourites to win but if Pandya falls early, this could get tricky.
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Prasidh Krishna is not taking this lying down
Wriddhiman Saha bowled top of middle stump by a quick inducker from Prasidh Krishna moments after getting pulled for a dismissive pull. GT 11 for 1 in two overs. They are 79% favourites to win still.
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Gill dropped for a duck
A short square leg in place, an inswinger takes the inside edge onto the thigh pad, and the ball lobs up for a simple catch. Looks like a plan coming to fruition, but then Yuzvendra Chahal drops it. That kind of a day for RR. GT 5 for 0 in one over.
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Maruti Suzuki ASKcricinfo stat: What's the lowest total successfully defended in an IPL final?
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GT 131 short of winning the IPL
It won't quite be a record but will be mighty close if Rajasthan Royals manage to defend the 130 they have posted. The record belongs to Mumbai Indians for defending 129 on a weary track that was ragging. This is a pitch being used only for the second time, and it is not happening spin so much. This is a superb finish by GT. Let's listen to Rashid Khan.
"The wicket was pretty good to bowl on. It was all about hitting the right areas. Only thing in my mind was as long as I am hitting the right areas, the wicket was helping me. I didn't have specific plans for Buttler. I keep it simple. I bowl in my areas. If he can hit from there, well done. Yes I have pulled the length back a little. Because of the wickets in Mumbai and here. The red soil that we are bowling on. The ball was coming on nicely, and there was not much turn. So I turned the length back a little bit. It is a final but you have to keep it simple. You have to focus on your skill, and stay calm and deliver whatever is best for the team."
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Sai Kishore announces himself
Sai Kishore came to the IPL with a big reputation, which comes from holding a record of under a run a ball in T20 cricket. Gujarat Titans eased him into the action. And playing in a side with this depth in attack, you feel less pressure. And Sai Kishore has not let his team management down. Today they held him back till all left-hand batters got out. So as a result he has had to bowl 16 and 18. And yet his control of length is so good he has not let them hit one into the stands. Trent Boult and R Ashwin have fallen to him. Boult twice practically after he survived the first one thanks to an error by David Miller at the boundary, which resulted in a six. RR 120 for 7 in 18. Can Parag manufacture 30 more runs in the last two?
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Hand brakes well and truly on
You could argue they never let go of the hand brake but with wickets falling, Rajasthan Royals are well and truly stuck. Sai Kishore got one over when he had two right-hand batters at the wicket. R Ashwin had no choice but to try to hit him, and Kishore was good enough to draw a skyer out of him. Lockie Ferguson too quick in the 17th. Now Riyan Parag is RR's only hope, and Pandya is giving Kishore another over at the death as opposed to Yash Dayal.
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Poise typical of winners
That's what Hardik Pandya possesses, Vikram Solanki told Nagraj Gollapudi here.
To me, he has a poise that is typical of winners. He's somebody that has clearly been through a great deal in his life, both as a cricketer and as a person. And he uses those experiences to sort of lead the way he does. I'm so pleased because he was very adamant that he wanted to do a really good job. He's a thoroughly good human being. And that that has sort of stood him in good stead as well.
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Cometh the hour, cometh the Pandya
4-0-17-3. Read those figures again and again. And who are the three wickets? The big three of RR: Sanju Samson, Jos Buttler and Shimron Hetmyer. This is a sensational effort, right up there in a final. He has bent his back, and used the bounce in the pitch to the maximum. RR reeling at 94 for 5 in 15 overs. R Saki Kishore not even required. He would perhaps have bowled if not for Devdutt Padikkal, who hit him for two sixes in the last match. Projected score 139 now.
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Rashid Khan 4-0-18-1
Yet another day of not trying to hit Rashid Khan out, and still he delivers a spell of 4-0-18-1, which has also produced wickets at the other end. This to go with the earlier stats as seen in the picture above. At 84 for 4 in 14 overs, the projected score is 138.
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Pandya gets Buttler
Is this the game? That is what happens with the way Jos Buttler plays for RR. Backloading so much means you can't afford to get out before the end of the innings. But against an attack of the quality of Gujarat Titans, it is not always going to be possible. Looking to run one down for a single, he gets out edging Hardin Pandya in the 13th over. It's 82 for 4 in 13 overs now. Projected score: 146.
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Padikkal 0* off 7
All seven of those balls from Hardik Pandya, all hard lengths. This will force Jos Buttler to come out of his shell and take chances sooner than he ideally wants. Might be time to bring Rashid back. RR 75 for 2 in 11 overs. Projected score 153.
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How much has Buttler contributed to Samson's dismissal?
Jos Buttler is looking more fluent than the other night against GT but he is essentially repeating what he did in the Qualifier. At a run a ball after eight overs at the wicket. The only way this is sustainable is if others take undue risks. That's what Yashasvi Jaiswal did. That's what Sanju Samson does, looking to pull a hard length from Hardik Pandya, and is caught at point. it's 60 for 2 in the ninth over.
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The slower ball to Buttler
The dipping slower ball on the stumps has long been a weakness for Jos Buttler. It was always going to be interesting what Buttler would do to it the first time Ferguson bowls it. He does so in the seventh over, a ball after beating him with extra bounce. Fortunately for Buttler, it is wide outside off, and he also picks it and goes over mid-off for four.
Rashid Khan, though, has bowled two overs without a single boundary tried off him. RR might consider 2-0-12-0 against Rashid a win. Buttler 22 off 22. Samson 14 off 10. It's 59 for 1 in eight.
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Lockie Ferguson. Fastest in the IPL
Umran Malik held the record this year for so long, won the head to head against Lockie Fergsuon, but in the final, Ferguson has gone past his 157kmph delivery with one at 157.3kmph.
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Here's Rashid
Rashid Khan is in early. No surprise why. That, and more in Gaurav Sundararaman's Tactics Board preview.
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is batting first an advantage?
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Dayal gets Jaiswal
Yashasvi Jaiswal continues to play in the spirit of T20. Try to hit every ball that is remotely in his zone. He has nailed two, both for sixes, but also some mis-hits have cleared the infield. However, Yash Dayal, just after being hooked for a six, stays with his plan of bowling short with two men back and has him caught at deep square leg. Gone for 22 off 16. RR 31 for 1 in four overs. You suspect Jaiswal has done his job by letting Buttler settle in.
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Jaiswal's start is not dull
Young Yashasvi Jaiswal has had an extreme start. Seven dots to begin with despite going a shot a ball with Mohammed Shami troubling him in particular. And then he bowls two in his zone, and Jaiswal gets an iffy four and an emphatic six. Jaiswal is high on adrenalin, and whatever happens he won't die wondering. RR 21 for 0 in three overs.
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The quiet start
A bit of dancing and bobbing around in the first two overs. No punches thrown yet. Sizing each other and conditions up. Mohammed Shami has got the ball to swing late. Jos Buttler hit one boundary. It's 7 for 0 in two overs.
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Behind the scenes at Gujarat Titans
Gujarat Titans made great draft picks we know, but the auction didn't look great. How then have they managed to put together the best team this IPL? As he so well does so often, here is Nagraj Gollapudi with stories from behind the scenes. In conversation with Vikram Solanki here.
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T20 Timeout
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Royals choose to bat first
That's a surprise. Sanju Samson, who couldn't win a toss for the life of him in the league stages, has won it in the virtual semi-final and final. However, he has sprung a surprise here by choosing to bat first despite winning easy chasing in the last match. Samson says he has done so because it is dry. I suspect it is because they came close to beating Titans when they batted first and lost easily when they chased.
No change for Royals, but Gujarat Titans have gone to Lockie Ferguson ahead of Alzarri Joseph in the big final. I was surprised actually that Joseph had upstaged - not without justification - Ferguson so far in the tournament. Not long to go now.
Rajasthan Royals 1 Yashasvi Jaiswal, 2 Jos Buttler, 3 Sanju Samson (capt. & wk), 4 Devdutt Padikkal, 5 Shimron Hetmyer, 6 Riyan Parag, 7 R Ashwin, 8 Trent Boult, 9 Obed McCoy, 10 Yuzvendra Chahal, 11 Prasidh Krishna
Gujarat Titans 1 Shubman Gill, 2 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 3 Matthew Wade, 4 Hardik Pandya (capt.), 5 David Miller, 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 R Sai Kishore, 9 Yash Dayal, 10 Lockie Ferguson, 11 Mohammed Shami
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The IPL finals quiz
I scored 5 on 10. Here it is for you. I didn't even know who, other than Manvinder Bisla, is the only uncapped player to be the Player of the Final.
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Watch in USofA
In the USA, you can watch the action LIVE on ESPN+ in English and in Hindi.
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In the spirit of Shane Keith Warne
There can be no bigger tribute to the greatest legspinner of all that if Shane Warne had built a team to win the 2022 IPL he would have probably assembled something resembling this bunch. A legspinner bowling death overs and close to winning the purple cap, a veteran offspinner outsmarting batters who are much more suited to the match-up and then also fitting in as a pinch hitter and a pinch anchor. This, and more similarities in this piece from Karthik Krishnaswamy.
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Titans vs Royals part III
It doesn't matter that Gujarat Titans have beaten Rajasthan Royals in both the prior encounters. It's winner takes all here tonight. The two best teams of the tournament have come together one final time. Hardik Pandya's Titans against Sanju Samson's Royals. Gary Kirsten and Ashish Nehra beat Lasith Malinga and Kumar Sangakkara in 2011, but the Sri Lankans now have R Ashwin on their side. Samson is pitting his T20 philosophy against a calm Pandya. Jos Buttler against Rashid Khan. The toss has again become important on a fresh pitch. Yuzvendra Chahal can seal the purple cap to go with Buttler's orange cap, but they will gladly give those away if they get to be on the winning side. So how you doin'? Toss coming up in half an hour.
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