Mohali: Defending champions Gujarat Titans thrashed Punjab Kings by six wickets with a ball to spare in an Indian Premier League (IPL) match here on Thursday, courtesy of opener Shubman Gill’s 67-run half-century after brilliant bowling. The Punjab Kings team could only manage 153 runs for eight wickets on the home ground in front of the initial setbacks and the excellent bowling of the defending champions Gujarat Titans. Gujarat Titans managed to win in 19.5 overs despite Gill’s 49-ball innings studded with seven fours and a six.
Wicket-keeper batsman Wriddhiman Saha (30 runs) hit Arshdeep Singh for four fours in the third over to lay the foundation for Punjab Kings to be battered. Kagiso Rabada dismissed Saha (19 balls, five fours) to claim his 100th IPL wicket and ended the 48-run partnership with Gill for the first wicket.
Sai Sudarshan (19 runs) was getting into a rhythm when Arshdeep dismissed him. After this, Captain Hardik Pandya (08) also reached the pavilion. In the last over, the team needed seven runs in six balls and Gill was bowled by Sam Karan. Rahul Tewatia (05) again gave victory to his team by hitting a four.
David Miller remained unbeaten on 17 runs. Veteran bowler Mohit Sharma, who made a comeback to the IPL, impressed on his debut for Gujarat Titans, claiming two wickets for 18 runs. Mohammed Shami (1/44) gave his team success in the very first over. Rashid Khan, Josh Little, and Alzarri Joseph also got one wicket each. Punjab Kings lost four wickets by adding 54 runs in the last five overs, out of which two players were run out in the 20th over.
In this score, his wicket-keeper batsman Jitesh Sharma contributed 25 while Sam Karan and Shahrukh Khan contributed 22-22 runs. Captain Shikhar Dhawan (08) and young opener Prabhsimran Singh, who was in excellent form on a batting-friendly pitch, could not show the fire and got out cheaply. Matthew Short was the top scorer scoring 36 runs (24 balls, six fours, one six). Punjab Kings lost the first wicket on the second ball of the innings.
Prabhsimran could not even open the account and got out by giving a simple catch while trying to flick Shami’s ball. But as soon as Short came to the crease, he hit two consecutive fours. Dhawan showed his intent by hitting two fours in the second over and then in the very next over, Short hit Shami for consecutive fours at covers and mid-off. But Little broke Dhawan’s hopes of playing big innings. In an attempt to play this bowler’s good length ball at mid-on, he was caught by Joseph, thus Gujarat got a big wicket. Pandya expressed the happiness of Dhawan’s wicket falling by clapping.
Despite the fall of two wickets, Short did not let it affect his run rate. He hit the last ball of the fifth over deep midwicket for the first six of the innings, leaving Punjab Kings 52 for two in the powerplay. Leg-spinner Rashid, who took a hat-trick in the previous match against Kolkata Knight Riders, finished the innings with a beautiful googly in his very first over for 36 runs (six fours, a six) as the hosts scored 55 for three. Done.
Jitesh Sharma (25 runs) and Bhanuka Rajapaksa (20 runs) added 37 runs for the fourth wicket but never looked aggressive. After the powerplay, the run rate of the Punjab Kings started to decline drastically and then Mohit Sharma came to bowl and played his last IPL match for Delhi Capitals in 2020.
Mohit took the wicket of Jitesh in his second over, who went to the pavilion after review. Punjab Kings completed 100 runs in 15.2 overs and in the same over, Sam Karan hit Rashid Khan’s ball over mid-wicket for the second six of the innings. Rajapaksa batted very slowly and in the 17th over, Joseph put an end to his 20-run innings.
As soon as Shahrukh came, he hit Joseph on the first ball for a sky-high six over deep midwicket. Karan and Shah Rukh took some excellent shots to bring the score to this point, otherwise, the situation could have got worse. Karan (22 balls, one four, one six) became Mohit’s second victim. Shahrukh hit one four and two sixes in nine balls before being run out in the final over.
