Rahul Tewatia thrashed a brisk 40 to secure a five-wicket victory for Gujarat Titans in their maiden Indian Premier League game against fellow newbies Lucknow Super Giants on Monday.
Half-centuries from Deepak Hooda (55) and Ayush Badoni (54) guided the Super Giants to 158-5 having lost four wickets in the first five overs.
That recovery was not enough, however, as Tewatia saw the Titans to the target of 159 with two balls to spare.
Titans captain Hardik Pandya (33) and Matthew Wade (30) laid the foundation for a successful chase, David Miller also contributing a quickfire 30 as Gujarat's batting depth provided the difference.
KL Rahul started his IPL campaign in disappointing fashion as he was caught behind – on review – from the first ball of the innings from Mohammed Shami (3-25), who removed Quinton de Kock (seven) soon after.
A superb Shubman Gill catch off Varun Aaron (2-45) then dismissed Evin Lewis (10) and Shami collected his third by bowling Manish Pandey (six) as Lucknow limped to 32-4 in the powerplay.
Hooda headed the fightback alongside Badoni in an 87-run partnership as the Super Giants scored 111 runs in the last 10 overs to reach a competitive total.
Dushmantha Chameera (2-22) boosted Lucknow's hopes by dismissing Gill for a duck and bowling Vijay Shankar (four) to reduce the Titans to 15-2.
Eighty runs were still required off just over eight overs despite Hardik and Wade's repair work, but Tewatia hit two sixes and five fours, the last of which clinched victory to power the Titans to triumph.
Krunal earns Pandya bragging rights
Hardik looked in scintillating touch as he hit 33 off 28 deliveries, with five fours and a six, before sibling Krunal Pandya had him caught by Pandey.
The left-arm spinner finished with figures of 1-17 from his four overs, boasting the lowest economy of any bowler in the match (4.25).
Rahul fails to deliver
Only Ruturaj Gaikwad (635) and Faf du Plessis (633) scored more runs in last year's tournament than Rahul, who managed 626 for the Punjab Kings, but the new Super Giants captain's failure set the tone for a disappointing performance from his side.