After close win against SRH, Hardik fears GT run out of luck in knockouts

Mumbai: Umran Malik's fiery spell for a five-wicket haul almost scripted the sixth win for Sunrisers Hyderabad, but the duo of Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia played a big role in defeating the 'Orange Army' by five wickets on Wednesday here at the Wankhede Stadium.

After the close finish, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya praised the effort put in by his teammates.

"I keep joking in the dressing room that God is telling us 'You guys are good, I'll help you'. It's happening so often that I fear we may run out of luck in the knockout games. We keep a very chilled atmosphere and everyone is stepping up. We're ensuring that the players are backed well," said Hardik Pandya in a post-match presentation.

Half-century by Wriddhiman Saha and cameos by Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan, guided Gujarat Titans to a thrilling victory.

The high-scoring match was settled in the last ball of the last over. Rashid and Tewatia smashed 31 runs and 40 runs respectively to completely outshine the five-wicket haul of Hyderabad's Umran Malik.

When asked about his bowling fitness Pandya said he is not going to risk bowling for Gujarat Titans unless and until the need arises, indicating that he will use a restrained strategy after the injury scare in IPL 2022 last week.

"It's just a conscious decision to manage my bowling, plan is to bowl whenever the team needs me. It's a long tournament and I don't want to get too excited early. We're quite practical, we've spoken about winning these situations and there is a lot of self-belief in the camp. It's important to keep the calm in the dugout, a lot of credit goes to the support staff for how they've been handling the players," he added.

Gujarat Titans' win over Sunrisers Hyderabad has taken them to the top of the points table.