Finisher Rahul Tewatia rescued Gujarat Titans (GT) in a low-scoring encounter to help the visitors beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) by three wickets. PBKS in-form batters Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma failed to fire as the Sam Curran-led side suffered their sixth defeat of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024. Shubman Gill-led GT moved to the sixth spot on the points table with their fourth win from eight games.
PBKS falter after Prabhsimran’s solid start
In the absence of an injured Shikhar Dhawan, Curran won the toss and opted to bat first. Prabhsimran Singh went after Sandeep Warrier and hit him for two sixes and two fours in the second over. He hit Azmatullah Omarzai for a six as well. He did not spare Mohit Sharma and hit him for a maximum as well before a soft dismissal. He contributed with a 21-ball 35. Rilee Rossouw got off the mark with a boundary first ball. PBKS were 56/1 after powerplay overs. Noor Ahmad was introduced into the attack and he trapped Rossouw in front of the stumps. Rashid Khan got the wicket of Curran in the next over. The opener scored 20 runs from 19 balls.
No Ashutosh-Shashank show
Noor continued to trouble the batters. Liam Livingstone became his second victim of the evening. Jitesh Sharma welcomed Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore with a six first ball but got bowled in an attempt to play a lofted shot. In his next over, Kishore dismissed in-form Ashutosh for a single-digit score. The left-arm spinner continued to strike. Shashank handed an easy catch to Kishore in the 16th over. Harpreet Brar tried to push the scoring rate. He hit a four and a six before getting dropped. Brar contributed with a 12-ball 29 cameo. In the lats over, Mohit dismissed Harshal Patel. Harpreet Singh failed to connect and got run out last ball in an attempt to take a second run. He scored 14 runs from 19 balls. PBKS were all out for 142.
Gill, Sudharsan struggle to score freely
GT's run chase got off to a cautious start. Arshdeep got the breakthrough with Wriddhiman Saha's wicket. The wicketkeeper-batter scored 13 runs from 11 balls. After powerplay overs, they wre 44/1. Livingstone outsmarted Gill who got caught at long-off. He scored 35 runs from 29 balls including five fours. At the halfway stage, GT were 68/2. Livingstone in his third over got the crucial of David Miller. He got bowled for a single-digit score. Curran returned and ended Sai Sudharsan's troubled stay at the crease. Sudharsan scored 31 runs from 34 balls. Harshal returned and got Omarzai caught behind.
Tewatia finishes it off
As the required run rate climbed up, Tewatia hit a couple of boundaries off Brar. Kagiso Rabada's last over turned out to be expensive. Shahrukh Khan hit a six whereas Tewatia scored three fours. In the penultimate over, Harshal got the consolation wickets of Shahrukh and Rashid. On the first ball of the final over, Tewatia finished the run chase with a boundary. He remained unbeaten for an 18-ball 36.
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