Gujarat Titans started their campaign in IPL 2022 on a winning note, beating Lucknow Super Giants by five wickets in a clash between two debutants.

Bowling brilliantly and in the channel, Shami sent back Lucknow skipper and his India teammate KL Rahul for a golden duck and then claimed two more wickets in quick succession for figures of 3-0-10-3 in his first spell.

He broke the backbone of Lucknow Super Giants’ batting as they were reduced to 29/4 in the fifth over with fellow pacer Varun Aaron chipping in with the wicket of West Indies batter Evin Lewis (10).

Though they recovered from a precarious 29/4 riding on half-centuries from experienced batter Deepak Hooda (55) and debutant Ayush Badoni (54), the 158/6 they managed in their allotted 20 overs was below-par for this surface.

Chasing 159 for victory, Gujarat Titans overcame a few hiccups and reached 161/5 in 19.4 overs with skipper Hardik Pandya striking a 28-ball 33, David Miller scoring 30, and Rahul Tewatia blasting a 24-ball 40 to help GT start IPL 2022 campaign with a five-wicket win.

Gujarat Titans, too, got off to a poor start as they were reduced to 15/2 in the third over as Shubman Gill (0) and Vijay Shankar (4) fell to Sri Lankan pacer Dushmantha Chameera. Skipper Hardik Pandya and Australian wicketkeeper-batter Matthew Wade raised 57 runs for the third wicket partnership but Hardik soon returned to the pavilion after blasting five fours and a six.

Gujarat further lost opener Matthew Wade (30) with a score of 78/4. With the asking rate rising steadily, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia rescued the Titans with a fine partnership. Miller scored 30 of 21 deliveries and Tewatia remained unbeaten on 40 as they reached 161/5 to register a five-wicket victory.