Jos Buttler (60 off 37 balls) backed up Prasidh Krishna’s excellent four-wicket burst with another flamboyant half-century, guiding Gujarat Titans to a comfortable seven-wicket win over Lucknow Super Giants on Sunday.
Like Buttler, captain Shubman Gill (56 off 40 balls) also registered his second consecutive fifty in the Titans’ back-to-back victories.
To set things up for the Titans at the Ekana International Stadium in Lucknow, after they won the toss and opted to bowl first, Prasidh shone bright with 4/28. The Super Giants managed only 164/8. Prasidh bagged the prized scalps of Aiden Markram and Nicholas Pooran, besides Lucknow’s newest sensation Mukul Choudhary,
who couldn’t tackle the
pacer’s slower, well-directed short ball.
Ayush Badoni, too, fell off Prasidh’s bowling. India pacer Mohammed Siraj also did a fine job, inducing a mishit off Lucknow captain Rishabh Pant and bowling 13 dot balls in his spell of 1/19. Promising pacer Ashok Sharma struck twice for the Titans as well.
In reply, Buttler’s aggression, coupled with precision made the task easier for the Titans, while Gill, too, could focus on his style of play during their 84-run second-wicket stand. The Titans eventually reached home with eight balls to spare.
Hayden’s help
The Englishman attributed his return to form to the help he got from former Australia opener Matthew Hayden, the Titans’ batting coach. “He just asked during one of the first few sessions, ‘How well are you watching the ball? It doesn’t look like you’re tracking it that well.’
“So, you know, it’s great players like him with the most simple advice, which is nice. And yeah, he has been great,” Buttler said later.
“I’ve really enjoyed spending time with him. Obviously, he’s got a big presence and
that aura. So when he speaks, you listen.”
