IPL 2022: Hardik Pandya hits first half-century as skipper as Titans reach 162/7

Mumbai, April 11: On a day when the Gujarat Titans top order failed to fire, skipper Hardik Pandya led the show with a solid half-century during their game against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the DY Patil Stadium.

Panyda scored the bulk of the runs for the Titans as Gujarat reached 162/7. The newcomers entered their fourth match of the season unbeaten, having notched up three consecutive victories.

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Playing for the first time at the DY Patil Stadium, the Gujarat Titans struggled to put runs on the board after being invited to bat first by SRH skipper Kane Williamson. Bhuvneshwar Kumar handed Sunrisers a nightmarish start as the opening over yielded 17 runs with 12 runs coming off extras. But in the next over Bhuvi made amends as he removed the inform Shubman Gill (7 off 9).

In the powerplay Gujarat added 51 runs on the board for the loss of 2 wickets. Titans struggled to build partnerships as Matthew Wade (19) and Sai Sudharsan (11) fell cheaply.

Skipper Pandya came to the team's rescue with scoring his fifth IPL half-century and the first one as captain. Pandya's fifty came off 42 deliveries, which included four boundaries and one maximum.

Someone out there was looking out for me: Manohar after being dropped thrice

Pandya stitched together a 50-run partnership with Abhinav Manohar. Manohar, who smashed a useful cameo, was dropped thrice before Rahul Tripathi picked him up on his second attempt. Manohar was first dropped by Aiden Markram, then by Tripathi and then Bhuvi dropped him of his own bowling, before Tripathi finally picked him up.

Handed a lifetime thrice, Manohar's 35 off 21 balls cameo and Pandya's knock saw Titans breach the 150 mark.

During the mid-innings break, Manohar, who was handed three lifelines, said, "Someone out there was looking out for me! I was lucky to get three chances but I won't get it everytime. But I should make those chances count unlike today where I threw my wicket away."

Riding on Pandya's half-century and Manohar's cameo Gujarat set Sunrisers a target of 163.