Live Report - Gujarat Titans vs Lucknow Super Giants, Ahmedabad

Ayush Badoni tried to reduce the margin of the defeat with some adventurous hitting but Mohit sends him and Krunal Pandya back off successive balls to finish with figures of 4 for 29. Alzarri Joseph finally gets the chance to bowl, in the final over of the game, and sends down a barrage of short stuff to Ravi Bishnoi.

In the end, it's a thumping 56-run win for Titans. With 16 points from 11 games and a healthy NRR of 0.951, they are all but through to the playoffs.

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He replaces Yash Thakur and comes in after Rashid sends back de Kock. The batter went for a sweep, missed it and the ball just brushed the leg stump on its way to the keeper. The bail fell after a slight delay, forcing umpires to check upstairs.

On his very first ball, Badoni scoops Shami for a six. LSG need 76 from three overs.

The slowdown leaves LSG needing 107 from six overs. Quinton de Kock tries to keep them alive with a six off Mohit but the bowler bounces back by dismissing Marcus Stoinis with yet another slower ball.

LSG need 98 from five overs, with de Kock and Pooran in the middle.

After Mayers' wicket, the next four overs, including the one in which Mayers fell, have produced just 25 runs. When you are chasing such a tall total, you cannot afford that.

LSG now need 115 from eight overs. The required rate is 14.37.

We saw in the first innings how some slower balls got stuck in the surface. Mohit Sharma demonstrates that again with an offcutter, leading Mayers to play early and top-edge his pull towards deep square leg. Rashid from deep-backward runs to his right diagonally and, as he does most of the time, puts in a slide and catches the ball with both hands, almost behind his body.

I have got a feeling that Mohit could be the most valuable bowler for Titans on this surface.

LSG 92 for 1 after nine, Deepak Hooda is the new batter.

The field restrictions have been long lifted but there's no stopping Mayers and de Kock. Mayers survived an lbw call against Rashid when the DRS showed an unexpected inside edge. Rashid gave away just four in that over but de Kock reverse-swept Noor twice two fours in the next to make up for it.

With LSG off to a flying start, Hardik has been forced to introduce both Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad inside the powerplay. Mayers and de Kock hit a six and four respectively off Rashid in a 14-run over.

Noor bowled four dots to Mayers but the batter smashed the other two for boundaries.

Here's how the last three overs have gone; they included Rashid dropping Mayers off Hardik when the batter was on 25.

It looks like Saha isn't 100%. The physio comes out and Saha is walking back after keeping for just two overs. KS Bharat eventually positions himself behind the stumps.

LSG, meanwhile, have got off to a good start with Mayers hitting Hardik for three successive fours. It was followed by Quinton de Kock hitting Shami for back-to-back fours and Mayers smashing him for a six and four.

KS Bharat has got the wicketkeeping gloves on. Looks like Titans want to use him just as a fielding substitute, and not Impact Player. The umpires are talking to Hardik Pandya. Aashish Kapoor joins in too. And now, Saha is coming out to keep wicket. In a hurry, Saha seems to have put on his pants the other way around.

Alzarri Joseph, meanwhile, has come in as Impact Player for Gill.

Gill started the over by hitting Thakur for a six and couple. But it was followed by a dot and single. Gill was on 94 and needed just one ball to bring up his hundred. It wasn't to be though. Miller pulled the penultimate ball for four and a single off the final took Titans to 227 for 2. Gill finished with 94* off 51.

It may sound wrong but LSG managed to control the damage somewhat in the last five overs, conceding just 51.

While Miller is keeping the fireworks going inside, outside the boundary line Hardik Pandya is getting his left hand strapped heavily. We are not sure how or when he hurt it. We will update you as soon as we hear anything about it.

Titans 213 for 2 after 19. Gill on 85. Can he get to his hundred?

LSG got Saha but not the respite. Hardik Pandya has smashed two sixes and a four in his first 12 balls, and has moved to 23.

Gill, meanwhile, had moved to 68 with six sixes and no fours but as I was typing this, he hits Mohsin for a boundary. However, with the last ball of his over, Mohsin sends back Hardik. Krunal takes the catch, which leaves him in some pain as it was hit with some power.

Saha won't get a hundred here. He tries to pull Avesh Khan but fails to middle it and ends up dragging it towards deep square leg, where Prerak Mankad, the substitute fielder, takes a neat, running catch to his left near the boundary line.

Titans 142 for 1. Hardik comes in at No. 3 and gets a life as an Avesh delivery hits him on the pads and rolls onto the stumps but the Zings bail don't dislodge.

Off just 29 balls. He and Saha have now added 142 in just 12 overs - this is the second-highest stand in IPL 2023, behind du Plessis and Kohli's 148-run effort against Mumbai Indians.

After four over, Gill was on 5 off five. In the next 16 balls, he has smashed 35 with the help of four sixes. The latest bowler to face the brunt is Ravi Bishnoi. Gill first smashed him over extra cover and then launched him for a straight six.

As a result, the hundred comes up for Titans in just 8.1 overs.

In the fifth over, Gill survives an lbw call against Krunal - LSG burnt a review as well - and then hits the next ball for a six, just clearing Deepak Hooda at long-off.

Krunal brings in Yash Thakur for the last over of the powerplay, and Saha skips down the track first ball to launch him over long-on. With that six, Saha brings up his fifty as well, off just 20 balls. It's the fastest fifty for him in the IPL, beating his 22-ball effort against SRH in 2014.

Gill ends the powerplay with yet another six, taking Titans to 78 for no loss after six.

Wriddhiman Saha found some form with bat in Titans' previous game, against Rajasthan Royals. After the game, he said that his job was to attack in the powerplay, and that's exactly what he has been doing today as well.

He started with two fours in the opening over, bowled by Mohsin Khan. The first one had come via an outside edge but it didn't seem to have bothered Saha. In the next over, he picked up a six and four off Avesh Khan.

After hitting an inside-out four against Krunal, Saha took apart Mohsin in the fourth over of the innings, hitting him for two sixes and two fours.

Just before the toss, Hardik adjusts Krunal's floppy hat and collar. The two brothers then hug each other.

Hardik tosses the coin. Krunal calls Heads. Murali Kartik, who is conducting the toss, thinks it's Tails before Hardik corrects him.

So Lucknow Super Giants win the toss and they will be bowling first. "The wicket will remain the same," Krunal says on why he opted to bowl. "We have Quinton de Kock in our side; Naveen misses out. The rest we will see."

Hardik then tells him in Gujarati that the photo is done and he can go.

Hardik wanted to bat first, anyway. "A very emotional day," he says. "Our father would have been very proud. He did dream of this back in the day. I am short of words but I think the family is very proud. Today is the first time when they are not sure which team to support but one Pandya will definitely win. A forced change: Josh misses out because he had to go and play for Ireland. Alzarri comes in."

Here are the XIs:

Gujarat Titans: 1 Wriddhiman Saha (wk), 2 Shubman Gill, 3 Hardik Pandya (capt), 4 Vijay Shankar, 5 David Miller, 6 Rashid Khan, 7 Rahul Tewatia, 8 Abhinav Manohar, 9 Mohit Sharma, 10 Mohammed Shami, 11 Noor Ahmad
Substitutes: Alzarri Joseph, Dasun Shanaka, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Jayant Yadav

Lucknow Super Giants: 1 Quinton de Kock (wk), 2 Kyle Mayers, 3 Deepak Hooda, 4 Krunal Pandya (capt), 5 Marcus Stoinis, 6 Nicholas Pooran, 7 Swapnil Singh, 8 Yash Thakur, 9 Ravi Bishnoi, 10 Mohsin Khan, 11 Avesh Khan
Substitutes: Ayush Badoni, Amit Mishra, Daniel Sams, Prerak Mankad, Yudhvir Singh