GT vs RR IPL Live Score, Qualifier 1: Buttler, Samson rebuild in PowerPlay after Dayal removes Jaiswal early

Hello and welcome to Sportstar’s LIVE coverage of the IPL 2022 Qualifier 1 between Gujarat Titans and Rajasthan Royals from the Eden Gardens in Kolkata.

RR 42/1 in 5 overs: Shami into his third over. FIVE WIDES! Angling away outside leg and this beats Saha to run away for five wides. Length ball outside off and Buttler taps it gently on the off-side. Driven circumspectly to point by Buttler for a dot. Good yorker on middle and leg and Buttler digs it out well. Pulled away for a single. FOUR! Just short of a length and Samson punches this past a diving mid-on and four runs. FOUR! One more to end the over. This is flicked off the pads over the infield and to the mid-wicket boundary.

RR 28/1 in 4 overs: SIX! First ball and this is dispatched over long-on by Samson. Length on middle and leg and Samson picks it up with ease for a delectable maximum. Hardik doesn’t seem happy with the condition of the ball and the umpires are getting it changed after some deliberation. Angling away outside off, just inside the tram-line, and Samson lets it go. FOUR! Full and Samson drives it through the covers. More of a punch on the up than a  along the ground drive. This is slightly shorter and Samson punches this to mid-off for a dot ball. Bouncer angling across outside off and Samson lets it pass. Short of a length and Samson defends it back to the bowler off the backfoot. Good comeback by Dayal with those three dot balls in a row.

RR 18/1 in 3 overs: Shami continues. Just short of a full length delivery and Buttler drives it back to the bowler with the inside half of the bat. Too straight this time and flicked away through square leg for a couple. Beaten! On a length, jags back in and beats Buttler’s drive. FOUR! Room outside off, full, and driven off the frontfoot through the covers by Buttler. Going down leg side and this is called wide. This one comes in again from a length outside off and beats Buttler’s inside edge on the drive. Inside edge onto his thigh pad to end the over.

RR 11/1 in 2 overs: Dayal from the other end. Wide outside off, shaping away and Jaiswal slashes hard and misses. Full and driven straight to mid-off for a dot ball. Full again, wider outside off, and Jaiswal gets an inside edge on the drive and jams this into the pitch. Yorker next ball, and Jaiswal digs it out back to the bowler. Length and pulled away over square leg for a couple. Didn’t connect that too well. OUT! Jaiswal slashes hard again outside off and finds an outside edge this time as the ball moves away a bit. Yashasvi Jaiswal c Wriddhiman Saha b Yash Dayal 3(8b).

RR 9/0 in 1 over: First ball coming up. Around the wicket to Jaiswal. Angling down leg-side and Jaiswal misses the flick off his pads.  Length ball on the pads again and this is tucked away for a single to deep square leg. Length ball  in the channel, not much movement, and Buttler shoulders arms. FOUR! Length again and this is driven away through the covers for a boundary. Nipping in this time from fifth stump and Buttler lifts his bat high to let it pass. FOUR! Full this time outside off and Buttler drives again through the covers for four more runs. Sweetly timed again and a diving mid-off has no chance of stopping it.

Bruce Oxenford and Virender Sharma have walked out onto the field as live action looms. The Gujarat Titans players walk the red carpet as they make their way onto the ground. Buttler and Jaiswal are out to begin the innings for Rajasthan Royals. Shami has the new ball.

T20S AT EDEN GARDENS IN 2022

West Indies 157/7 (20) lost to India 162/4 (18.5) by six wickets.

India 186/6 (20) beat West Indies 178/3 (20) by eight runs.

India 184/5 (20) beat West Indies 167/9 (20) by 17 runs.

Will Jos Buttler find his groove again tonight?

GT VS RR PLAYING XI

Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Matthew Wade, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Yash Dayal, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami.

Rajasthan Royals: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Jos Buttler, Sanju Samson (c) (wk) , Devdutt Padikkal, Ravichandran Ashwin, Shimron Hetmyer, Riyan Parag, Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna, Yuzvendra Chahal, Obed McCoy.

TOSS: Gujarat Titans wins the toss and elects to bowl. Alzarri Joseph comes in for Lockie Ferguson in the playing XI. Rajasthan Royals is unchanged.

PITCH REPORT: The square boundaries are 61m and 67m. The straight boundary is 77m. Lots of grass cover on the wicket and the black soil will mean good carry. Not much on turn on offer as there isn’t much wear and tear. Par score is around 170-180, says Matthew Hayden.

16:44: Rains continue to stay away from Kolkata with a little over two hours to go for the toss.

14:51: It has stopped raining in Kolkata for now. It’s bright and sunny.

MATCH PREVIEW

As the Indian Premier League bandwagon returns to Kolkata after three years for this edition’s first two playoffs matches, the cricket-loving fans will hope that the rain forecast does not come true.

The Qualifier 1, between top-ranked new entrant Gujarat Titans and second-placed Rajasthan Royals – which won the inaugural title in 2008 – at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday, is expected to be a keenly-contested one as the winner of the match will reach the final. The fact that Titans beat Royals in their only duel five week ago will have little significance as it happened well before the sides hit the reset button.

Ashish Nehra’s cricketing acumen and Hardik Pandya’s pro-active captaincy has built Titans as a formidable unit. Its key members have played their roles well.

While Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha have accumulated crucial runs at the top, Hardik, who is the team’s highest run-scorer with 413 runs, and David Miller have contributed handsomely. Spinner Rashid Khan and pacer Mohammed Shami have taken 18 wickets apiece and Lockie Ferguson has helped in putting the opposition under pressure.

Others have revolved around the key players to enhance the formidability of Titans, which would follow the process that has given it success so far.

Right personnel

Coached by Kumar Sangakkara, the Royals have picked the right personnel and have used them well to reach the playoffs after four years.

Top run-getter Jos Buttler (629) and top wicket-taker Yuzvendra Chahal (26 wickets) have shouldered the bulk of the responsibility. Captain Sanju Samson and Devdutt Padikkal have chipped in when needed. Trent Boult, Prasidh Krishna and R. Ashwin have strengthened the bowling department.

While the Royals would like to pay tribute to their former captain and mentor Shane Warne by winning back the trophy, Titans would love to ensure a memorable finish by taking the champion’s tag. The first step towards that should be an exciting one.

WHERE AND WHEN TO WATCH GT VS RR, IPL 2022 QUALIFIER 1 LIVE?