IPL 2022 Qualifier 1: Why Rashid Khan’s spell was a game-changer and other talking points – Firstcricket News, Firstpost

Gujarat Titans completed yet another heist in the final over – the seventh time they have successfully chased down a score in the last over in IPL 2022 – to head to the the final of the season. A disappointed Rajasthan Royals have several questions to ponder over as they head into the Qualifier 2 which will be played against the winners of the Eliminator clash (RCB vs LSG). Here we raise a few burning questions to analyse the thrilling game on Tuesday night.

How Sanju Samson put forward his India case in style

Sanju Samson scored 47 runs from 26 balls against Gujarat Titans in the IPL Qualifier 1. Image: Sportzpics

Sanju Samson walked out, possibly still hurting from his exclusion from the Indian T20I team, and made a strong statement with an impactful knock. Gujarat Titans got off to a great start with Yashasvi Jaiswal dismissed in the second over, but before they could even think of dominating from there, Samson was onto them in a flash.

He smashed his first ball for a six and then went on to hit only boundaries – three fours and three sixes – off his first 11 balls, racing to 30. With Rashid Khan coming in, Samson tempered his approach a tad, but was eventually out lofting Sai Kishore down the ground for a terrific 47 that put Rajasthan on top in the first innings.

Did Jos Buttler’s approach hurt Rajasthan?

Jos Buttler was going at run a ball before attacking the Gujarat bowling. Image: Sportzpics

Jos Buttler ambled along at less than run-a-ball even as Sanju Samson produced a spell-binding blitz. Buttler was on 39 off 38 balls at the end of the 16th over, as Rajasthan’s score of 127/3 appeared baffling after Samson’s outrageous knock. Buttler, thought, turned it around from there, smashing 50 runs off his next 18 balls.

However, it felt like the onslaught came too late, especially given how Riyan Parag and Ravichandran Ashwin have stepped up when needed with the bat this year. Was Buttler playing too safe? Could RR have made more than 188 given the start Samson gave them?

This isn’t the first time a Buttler innings has divided opinion this season. Against Mumbai Indians, Rajasthan made 158/6 in 20 overs with Buttler’s 67 taking 52 balls and the acceleration then never even happened despite him staying on for long. Against RCB, he made 70 not out in 47 balls, but most of those big hits came in the penultimate and final over as he was on 43 off 40 prior to that. Thrice this season Buttler has bottled up games in the first innings for Rajasthan, less expected from someone with over 700 runs in the season.

Why Shubman Gill’s season has been quite promising

Shubman Gill goes into the final as Gujarat Titans’ second-highest run-scorer, four runs behind Hardik Pandya. The notable change in his numbers is in the strike-rate. Contrary to the last three editions, when his strike-rate was below 125, Gill has gone at a rate of 136.02 while averaging over 30. Importantly, in a slightly bowling-heavy side, he has held together the batting while stepping up the rate when needed as an anchor.

Last night, he raced to 31 off 16 balls at the end of the powerplay, going from 16 off 12 to smashing three fours in the final powerplay over bowled by Ashwin. Gill has been impressive right through the season against spinners. He has scored at a rate of 154.4 against spinners across all phases.

It’s also worth noting that he overcame an issue he had at KKR: ensuring he doesn’t lag behind the rate in the middle overs. His scoring rate through the middle overs this year is an impressive 154.01, his best ever through the 7-16 overs phase in any year in IPL. Notably, it’s a huge spike from his returns in 2020 and 2021 in this phase, where he struck at 110.27 and 114.97 respectively.

Why Rashid Khan’s brilliant spell was a game-changer

Rashid Khan didn’t pick a wicket but was economical in his four overs against Rajasthan Royals. Image: Sportzpics

Rashid Khan continues to be an impeccable force for Gujarat Titans and it reflected last night in a game where the rest of his colleagues struggled to put a leash on the scoring rate. Rashid’s four overs went for just 15 runs, an economy rate of just 3.5 runs per over. On the flip side, the rest of the Gujarat bowlers combined for 173 runs in 16 overs, an economy rate of 10.81.

Without Rashid’s incredible spell, Rajasthan Royals would have almost certainly crossed 200 in the first innings. In all, in the entire game, Rashid and Hardik Pandya were the only bowlers to bowl at under eight runs per over, but Hardik, who clocked seven runs per over, did not complete his spell. The impact of Rashid’s spell was felt in hindsight as Gujarat Titans won in the final over of the game where 16 runs were needed for a win.

How Gujarat Titans’ ‘teamwork’ has kept their batting issues at bay

Debutants Gujarat Titans are into the IPL 2022 final after producing yet another miraculous chase. Image: Sportzpics

Gujarat Titans might have Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill in the top run-scorers list now, but it’s worth mentioning that at the end of the playoffs stage, where they finished as the top ranked team with 10 wins in 14 games, they did not have a single player in the top 10 run-scorers. The likes of Wriddhiman Saha, Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia and Matthew Wade or Sai Sudarshan have stepped up in strife time and again.

The teamwork in their batting is reflected from the fact that they have four players with more than 300 runs in the season, the joint-most by any team, and three players with over 400 runs, again the joint-most by any team. At this stage, Gujarat Titans have also hit the least number of sixes by any team (75) in the season, but they have managed to score it when it matters the most. 13 of those 75 have come in the final over of the game, the most by any team in the 20th over this season.

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