Twitter Reactions: Rahul Tewatia’s superb cameo helps Gujarat beat Lucknow in a thriller

The Gujarat side started its campaign in the Indian T20 League with a victory over the Lucknow side. Chasing a target of 159, the Gujarat outfit went past the target with five wickets to spare. The Hardik Pandya-led side lost two wickets inside the first three overs and was reduced to 15/2. While Shubman Gill was dismissed for a duck, Vijay Shankar walked back for just four.’

After that, Hardik Pandya and Mathew Wade stitched together a stand of 57 runs for the third wicket. But, Hardik was dismissed by his brother Krunal Pandya when the partnership started to flourish. Wade followed him in the next over, and Lucknow clawed its way back into the match.

But then, Rahul Tewatia showed that he is a master finisher and scored a blistering 40* to help the Gujarat side start their campaign with a win. David Miller also chipped in with a handy 30 off 21 deliveries. After wielding the willow first, the Lucknow side posted a total of 158/6 on the board. The Lucknow outfit experienced a disastrous start to their innings as their skipper KL Rahul was dismissed for a first-ball duck by Mohammed Shami.

Lucknow kept losing wickets at regular intervals and were left reeling at 29/4. And, that is when Deepak Hooda and Ayush Badoni came together and put on a partnership of 87 runs for the fifth wicket. While Hooda helped himself to 55 off 41 deliveries, Badoni scored a 41-ball 54. Mohammed Shami was outstanding with the ball and picked up three wickets in the four overs that he bowled.

Here is what the captains had to say

Losing captain KL Rahul: I think it was a phenomenal game. The start wasn’t ideal but the way we recovered was phenomenal. We know at the Wankhede the ball can do something initially. We couldn’t have started the campaign in a better way. The win would have been great but a still a lot to learn from this. If anyone can exploit the pitch, it’s Shami. I have played with him for three-four years the last franchise and I knew he could be dangerous. I think we gave ourselves a good chance with the ball till the 14th or 15th over. But it can be difficult with the dew. We need to go back and practise a bit more with the wet ball. Credit to Tewatia and Abhinav as well. [On Ayush Badoni] He is the baby AB for us, From the first day he was batting, it was unbelievable. He can hit the ball 360 degrees.

Hardik Pandya | Winning skipper: This was the right game for us to be on either side and learn, but have learnt a lot by winning. Shami is known for his seam positions and he got us to a great start. We would have any day taken 160 on this wicket. Mostly I’ll bat at number four, because I want to take pressure with my experience so that the others can play freely. We want to win as a team and nobody can take the contribution away from anyway. It was quite humid as well, so I wouldn’t have finished Shami’s spell over there. Manohar is some talent to look at with the talent he has. He is someone who you are going to hear about in the future. Tewatia was sensational as well. Getting out to Krunal would have pinched me more had we lost, but now the family is neutral and happy. He got me out and we won the match