Gujarat Titans were involved in yet another last-over thriller after the agonising defeat to Kolkata Knight Riders, but this time around, they were victorious. Hardik Pandya’s team defeated Punjab Kings by 6 wickets in match 18 of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) season, which was held at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
Chasing a target of 164 runs, Gujarat did have a few wobbles, but got over the line in the penultimate over, courtesy of another 'finishing cameo' from Rahul Tewatia.
Shubman Gill played another brilliant knock. The batter brought up his second half-century of the season, scoring 67 runs in 49 deliveries, which included seven fours and a maximum.
As for Punjab's bowlers, Harpreet Brar and Sam Curran were on the money, as Shikhar Dhawan's team did well to take the game deep, despite having only a lukewarm score to defend.
Return To Normalcy For Gujarat Bowlers
Earlier, Punjab scored 153/8 after being asked to bat first. The start was far from what they would have ideally preferred, with Mohammed Shami working his magic in only the second delivery by sending Prabhsimran Singh back to the dugout. Playing only his second match in the competition, Matthew Short was successful in easing the pressure, but that did not prevent the fall of Punjab’s second wicket.
Trying to go big in the fourth over, Dhawan ended up losing his wicket to the collaborative effort of a Joshua Little delivery and an Alzarri Joseph catch. That over, however, was followed by two consecutive expensive overs, helping Punjab cross the 50-run mark inside the powerplay.
The momentum had shifted in the Kings’ favour, but Rashid Khan turned the tables by finding the stumps of Short in his first over. The next phase of the game was a tad unusual, where Punjab did not lose any wickets, but they did not accumulate runs at a satisfactory pace either.
Punjab scored only 32 runs in the subsequent five overs, with both Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Jitesh Sharma opting to tiptoe their way towards a big score, instead of taking the bowlers to the cleaners.
That strategy, however, proved unyielding, with Jitesh Sharma departing after a slow 25-run knock in the 13th over, becoming journeyman Mohit Sharma’s first victim of the season. Four overs later, Rajapaksa’s misery was put to its conclusion by Joseph.
Wickets kept tumbling, with Sam Curran’s run-a-ball 22-run knock coming to an end in the 18th over, but Shahrukh Khan and Harpreet Brar’s cameo helped the Kings reach a competitive total. The duo accumulated 30 runs in only 14 deliveries combined.
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