Hardik Pandya of GT. Photo- IPL
Hardik Pandya of GT. Photo- IPL

Hardik Pandya seemed less perturbed as his Gujarat Titans (GT) suffered their first loss in this ongoing IPL 2022 at the hands of Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the 21st match of the season which was played at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Sunrisers captain Kane Williamson had won the toss and decided to bowl first keeping in mind the dew in the evening.

After being set 163 runs to win by Gujarat Titans, Kane Williamson led from the front, scoring his 18th Indian Premier League (IPL) fifty, making 57 with 4 sixes and 2 fours to his name. He got support from Abhishek Sharma, who made 42 in 32 balls with 6 fours. Rahul Tripathi also smacked a quick 17 before going off with an injury.

Kane Williamson.Photo-IPL
Kane Williamson.Photo-IPL

Nicholas Pooran then came in and finished the match with a brutal 34* in 18 balls with 2 sixes and 2 fours as SRH won the match in the final over with 8 wickets in hand, as Pooran smacked Nalkande for a six for the win.

Relax And Enjoy The Game: Hardik Pandya Not Worried By First Loss For Gujarat Titans In IPL 2022 Season

Earlier, batting first Gujarat Titans had struggled to make runs despite Hardik Pandya making 50* and Abhinav Manohar smashing his way to 35 in 21 balls with 5 fours and 1 six. They could only manage 162/7 in 20 overs as T Natarajan and Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished the innings with two wickets each to their names.

Talking to the commentators at the end of the match, Hardik Pandya said that being short by 10 runs proved to be the difference in the end, but he stressed the team motto that they will learn from the mistakes and go forward.

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Hardik Pandya. Photo- IPL
Hardik Pandya. Photo- IPL

He said: “I think batting wise we were 7-10 runs short, that would have made difference in the end. We started well with the ball, but those two overs where they scored 30 runs, got them back into the game. IPL is tough so I tried to show some toughness (against Malik). That (blow to the helmet) woke me up. They bowled well and stuck to their plans, credit to them for the way they bowled. We need to learn from the mistakes, we will have a conversation and a laugh as we have out next game in a couple of days. Relax and enjoy the game.”

GT will next face Rajasthan Royals on April 14 at this same venue, while SRH will clash with Kolkata Knight Riders on April 15 in Brabourne Stadium.

Also Read: SRH vs GT: Didn’t Want To Get Rid Of Rashid Khan, We Couldn’t Afford Him – SRH Coach Muttiah Muralitharan