Another Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match and the fans witnessed yet another dramatic finish. Gujarat Titans (GT) won by six wickets with one ball to spare but the game was very much alive in the last over bowled by T20 World Cup 2022 ‘Player of the series’ Sam Curran. Once again, Rahul Tewatia showed why he is trusted by Titans to play the finisher role as he led defending champions to victory.
Saha attacks, Rabada’s milestone
The run chase got off to an ideal start. Gill and Wriddhiman Saha fired from both ends. In the third over, Saha took on Arshdeep Singh hitting him for 18 runs including four fours. Kagiso Rabada in his first over of the season got the wicket of Saha. The wicketkeeper-batter pulled but found Matthew Short at square deep backward square leg boundary. Saha scored 30 runs from 19 balls. Rabada became the fastest to 100 IPL wickets breaking former Mumbai Indians (MI) pacer Lasith Malinga's record. After powerplay overs, GT had 56/1 on the board.
Gill leads the way
No boundaries were scored from sixth to eighth over. Gill provided the much-needed boost with two fours off impact player Rahul Chahar. At halfway stage, GT were 80/1. Meanwhile Sai Sudharsan struggled and lost his wicket to Arshdeep in the 12th over. Skipper Pandya struggled to rotate the strike. In the 15th over, Pandya took the aerial route and found Sam Curran at long-on. He scored just eight runs from 11 balls. In the 16th over, Gill got to his half-century from 40 balls. David Miller took his time in the middle and set batter Gill did the bulk of scoring. In the 18th over, Gill took on Rabada and smashed him for a six. Miller hit a boundary off his South African teammate as well. Arshdeep bowled a brilliant penultimate over conceding just six runs from it.
Tewatia – the finisher
Titans needed seven runs from the final over. Curran bowled the final over. Rishi Dhawan put in a dive to stop Miller’s short and saved three runs. Curran rattled the stumps next ball to dismiss Gill. The opener scored 67 runs from 49 balls including seven fours and one six. New batter Rahul Tewatia did not get the timing right and managed a single. Curran bowled another in block hole and Miller barely managed to complete the single. On the penultimate ball, Tewatia played the lap spot to find the boundary and win the game for his team by six wickets.
Openers disappoint
Earlier, Pandya won the toss and opted to field first. Mohammed Shamis truck first ball to dismiss Prabhsimran Singh for a two -ball duck. It was Prabhsimran's second duck in a row. Matthew Short looked positive from the start hitting Shami for two consecutive fours. Skipper Dhawan struggled against Irish pacer Joshua Little. Dhawan got caught at mid-wicket off Little's bowling. The opener scored just eight runs. In the fourth over, Short took the attacking approach against Alzarri Joseph by hitting him for a four and a six. After powerplay overs, PBKS were 52/2.
Quiet middle overs
Once the fielding restrictions were lifted, Pandya introduced Rashid Khan and he provided with the wicket of his Adelaide Strikers' teammate Short. The Australian scored 36 runs from 24 balls including six fours and one six. Coming back after injury, Bhanuka Rajapaksa struggled to get going. Jitesh Sharma hit a few boundaries but could not capitalise on a good start in middle overs. Playing his first IPL game after nearly three years, Mohit Sharma got the wicket of Jitesh who scored 25 runs from 23 balls including five fours. Curran struggled to even taken singles against Rashid and Mohit. In the 16th over, he released some pressure with a six off Afghan leggie.
Mohit’s exceptional comeback
Joseph returned to bowl his last over and got the wicket of Rajapaksa. The Sri Lankan batter scored 20 runs from 26 balls. Shahrukh Khan walked out with intent and hit a maximum off the first ball he faced. In the next over, he hit Shami for a six as well. Mohit was brought back into the attack to bowl the penultimate over. He delivered with the wicket of Curran who contributed with a run-a-ball 22. Little bowled the final over where Brar hit a six and two run outs were affected. PBKS managed to post 153/8 on the board. Mohit was the standout bowler as he conceded just 18 runs and took two wickets in his quota of four overs.
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