IPL 2022 | GT vs RCB | Superstar, Underperformer of the match

Gujarat Titans (GT) squared off against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in the 43rd match of IPL 2022 at the Brabourne Stadium in Mumbai. Gujarat pulled off another near-impossible chase in the match and emerged victorious with six wickets in hand. They chased down 58 runs in the last five overs on a pitch that was slowing down and snatched victory in a close encounter.

Rahul Tewatia once again played a crucial knock in the win of the Titans and turned the tables in their favour on this affair.

Match Situation: Rahul Tewatia walked out to bat when Gujarat scored 95 for 4 in the 13th over of the innings. The equation at this stage was 75 runs needed off 43 deliveries. The required run rate at the stage was 10.46 and on a gradually slowing down pitch, the chase looked tough.

Tewatia’s Approach: Tewatia’s calculative mind was immediately in action as he did not get intimidated by either the required run rate or the playing conditions. The southpaw took his time to settle and trusted in his ability to go big in the slog overs. As he got a measure of the pitch and the opposition’s tactics, the 28-year-old went for the kill and guided the Titans to a victory.

Let us have a look at the bit-by-bit strike rate of Rahul Tewatia in this innings.

Rahul Tewatia’s Strike Rate vs RCB

Observation: As we see from the table, Tewatia approached run a ball at the initial stage of his innings. He took his time but was clever in working the ball around for singles and two’s. As he settled, his strike rate increased from 100 to 180 and then to 300. The all-rounder finished with 43 runs from 25 balls and pulled off another ‘Tewatia masterclass’ for his team. The Haryana-based cricketer is now making it a habit to finish games like this, and the brilliant show on the crunch stage makes him the ‘Superstar of the Match.’

Under-performer of the Match: RCB had the match in their court around the 14th over of the 2nd innings when two new batters in the form of David Miller and Rahul Tewatia, were at either end of the 22 yards. All the bowlers needed to stick to the basics of death bowling and make proper use of the ground dimensions to win the match. Faf du Plessis was spot on with his plan of keeping his best bowlers in Josh Hazlewood and Harshal Patel for the final four overs.

Harshal bowled a brilliant 17th over, conceding just 7 runs off it, and the pressure was on GT. The equation for the chasing team was 36 runs off 18 deliveries and ‘Skipper Du Plessis’ brought in his in-form operator, Josh Hazlewood. 

An over of 10 runs would also have been acceptable given the situation, but the Aussie pacer lost complete control of line and length and bowled all over the place. The batters made full use of the offered width and errs bowled by Hazlewood, thereby cranking 17 runs off the over to clinch much nearer to another victory. 

Later, the 31-year old bowler bowled the final over of the game when he had to defend 7 runs of the last 6 deliveries. The left-hander duo of Tewatia and Miller slammed 10 runs off the first three balls to finish over the line and pocket two crucial points.

Hazlewood finished with the figures of 36 runs in 3.3 overs without a wicket. The tall pacer was expensive in the slog overs, making him the ‘Underperformer of the Match.’