David Miller finishes off Rajasthan Royals, sends Gujarat Titans into IPL final

David Miller hits a 38-ball 68 not out as newcomers Gujarat Titans clinch a seven-wicket win over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 1 to seal their spot in the title clash

You need 16 runs off the last six balls and there can’t be a better way than to hit three sixes to seal the deal. David Miller had it all sorted in his head. He had been here before, in an almost exact situation. He knew the drill. First ball from Prasidh Krishna, Miller moved across his stumps to smash it over long-on. Next ball was good length but he swung it over midwicket for another six. The third ball too was dispatched over the boundary as Miller helped Gujarat Titans beat Rajasthan Royals by seven wickets to reach the IPL final in their debut season in an emphatic manner at a packed Eden Gardens on Tuesday. (More IPL News)

Gujarat Titans pulled off a come-from-behind win despite setbacks.(BCCI)

This was no come-from-behind win despite the setbacks. Wriddhiman Saha -their opening enforcer - lasted two balls. Shubman Gill was set when he had to trudge back disappointed after being involved in a run out with Matthew Wade. Two overs later, Wade too cracked under the pressure of not being able to handle Royals’ spin attack.

Titans persevered, first through Gill and Wade and then through a 106-run partnership between Miller and Pandya, never letting the asking rate go up too much. End of the 16th over they ran down the equation to 43 off 24. Obed McCoy conceded nine in the next over before Yuzvendra Chahal bowled four dots. Miller though found the release shot—a towering six over long-on that again brought down the asking rate to 23 from 12. From there, Titans were in control.

In hindsight, Royals captain Sanju Samson had no business hitting the ball like that. In an ideal world, Samson ought to have spaced out his demolition job and let the world soak in his belligerence in phases. Reality though is far removed from that ideal. Samson delivers, but he also deceives too often. Not Jos Buttler though. He is a T20 version of the Test template—ready to strap himself to the pitch till he is ready to let loose. He might take you right to the edge but trust Buttler to know when to turn it around.

For the third time this IPL season Buttler hadn’t scored 50 by the end of 15th over. The first 38 balls fetched 39 runs but the next 18 balls flew to different parts of a packed Eden for 50 runs. A bit of luck in the form of a dropped catch in the 17th over and Buttler had quickly resorted to a more familiar clobbering mode, hitting Gujarat Titans’ bowling into submission. Royals, as a result, scored 64 off the last five overs.

Could it have been more though? Much of the Royals' innings boiled down to percentage cricket. Royals figuring out that they could still get to a challenging total without taking any risk against Rashid Khan was possibly their biggest punt. So they played him out for 15 runs from four overs and concentrated on the other 16. Buttler too had to slow down to last till the 20th over. Had Samson not thrown it all away after cruising to 47 off 26 though, the narrative perhaps would have been different.