Gujarat to face Rajasthan in direct ticket to IPL final

Kolkata: IPL debutants Gujarat Titans have turned out to be the surprise package of IPL 2022 by topping the table and becoming the first side in the competition to qualify for the playoffs.

The Hardik Pandya-led side now has a chance to make their debut IPL season even more memorable when they face inaugural winners Rajasthan Royals in a clash for a direct ticket to the final on Tuesday at the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

The team which wins Qualifier 1 on Tuesday goes straight into the final while the team on the losing side will get another shot at making the final when it faces the winner of the match between teams placed third and fourth in Qualifier 2 at Ahmedabad.

What has worked really well for Gujarat in IPL 2022 has been the bowling attack built around Mohammed Shami, Lockie Ferguson and Rashid Khan. The bowling attack has done well in power-play, picking 25 wickets, the most by any team in the tournament, eleven of which have been picked by Shami.

In terms of batting, Gujarat have a good set of finishers in David Miller and Rahul Tewatia apart from Rashid chipping in with fireworks at the end. The decision to get Pandya bat at three or four has also worked well in their favour, as the all-rounder has amassed 413 runs in the league stage at an average of 41.30 and strike-rate of 131.52 apart from picking four wickets.