Punjab Kings returned to winning ways with an almighty escape from the clutches of what would have been a third consecutive defeat in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL), beating Gujarat Titans by three wickets at Ahmedabad on Thursday (4 April). Chasing a target of 200 runs, Punjab crossed the finish line in the penultimate delivery, courtesy of Shashank Singh’s unbeaten 29-ball 61.
Whilst the task of chasing 200 runs against a well-drilled bowling unit of Gujarat was always going to be an arduous task, it was made even more difficult when Umesh Yadav bowled Shikhar Dhawan in the second over.
Jonny Bairstow and Prabhsimran Singh stitched a 35-run second-wicket stand, but neither could make a lasting impression. The former had merely scored 22 runs where Noor Ahmed castled with a sublime delivery, while the Afghan left-arm wrist spinner also got the wicket of Prabhsimran when he was batting on 35.
Sam Curran chose not to have an extended stay at the crease, placing an Azmatullah Omarzai delivery into the safe palms of Kane Williamson in just the eighth delivery that he faced. Playing his first match of the season, Sikandar Raza struggled to accumulate 15 runs before finally throwing the towel, becoming Mohit Sharma’s only victim of the match.
At 111/4, with less than seven overs to be bowled, the match was there for Gujarat to lose, which they eventually did – with some substandard fielding and underwhelming bowling.
Credit, however, should be given to Shashank Singh and impact substitute Ashutosh Sharma for their match-winning knocks. The former, a 32-year-old batter from Chhattisgarh, scored a 29-ball 61. Ashutosh, who hails from Madhya Pradesh but plies his trade for Railways in domestic cricket, made a crucial contribution of 17 runs from 31 deliveries.
Shubman Gill’s Captain’s Knock Goes in Vain
Earlier, a skipper's knock of 89 runs by Shubman Gill and Sai Sudarshan's quickfire 33 propelled host Gujarat Titans to 199/4 in 20 overs. Given the chance to bat first on a flat central pitch with small square boundaries, Gujarat openers, Wriddhiman Saha and skipper Gill kicked off their batting with the latter hitting a six on the last delivery of the first over of left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar.
Brar, with the new ball for the first time in the season, bowled very well in the first five deliveries before getting hammered for a six down the ground by Gill. Arshdeep Singh from the other end, nearly got Saha, trapping him plumb in front but the batter challenged the on-field decision, and the third umpire gave it not out as the ball was going over the leg stump.
Kagiso Rabada replaced Brar and gave PBKS the first breakthrough by dismissing Saha for 11 runs with a quick delivery angling back on the stumps. Saha went for a flick, closing the face of the bat, and got the top edge straight into the hands of Shikhar Dhawan guiding the mid-on.
Kane Williamson came at number three to bat and was welcomed with a ferocious bouncer by Arshdeep. Gill on the other end continued his slaughter and reached 18 off 8 deliveries after the end of four overs.
It was a good batting display by GT in the Power-play overs as Gill and Williamson collected boundaries in all areas. Sam Curran bowled the last powerplay over and got stoked for 11 runs ending the powerplay with 52 for 1.
The struggle began for the GT batters after the first six overs as Punjab bowlers bowled on the hard length and stopped the flow of boundaries.
Brar known for his economical and tight spells in the middle overs got rid of Williamson in his second over after getting smoked for a boundary. Williamson tried to cut the outside-off delivery towards the backward point and handed an easy catch to Jonny Bairstow. Playing the first match of the season Williamson departed after scoring 26 off 22 deliveries.
Sai Sudarshan, carrying his good form with the bat, came in at number four and got off to a good start with a boundary off Brar and by the end of 10 overs, Sudarshan had scored 11 off six deliveries taking Gujarat to 83 for 2.
Gill, playing the captain's knock, continued his flawless batting and Sudarshan collected 14 runs from Sikandar Raza over’s followed by Rabada's overs. Sudarshan was looking good with the bat, especially against the pacers but it was Harshal Patel’s slower delivery outside the off that got the outside edge of Sudarshan’s bat straight behind wicket-keeper Jitesh Sharma’s hand.
Sudarshan got out after scoring 33 in 19 deliveries as Harshal got his first wicket of the match and GT lost its third wicket.
Gill reached his half-century in 31 deliveries with a boundary off Brar’s delivery with a huge appreciation from the home crowd. Gill, who has a strike rate of 175.6 after scoring a half-century yet again showed his mettle with the bat and struck a maximum and a boundary in the 18th over.
Vijay Shankar didn’t look convincing with the bat and got out to Rabada’s full delivery outside off, handing an easy catch to long-off.
Harshal Patel, with 10.75 economy in death overs (16 to 20), came into the attack bowling the 19th over and got hit for a maximum in the very second delivery by Tewatia. Tewatia hammered 20 runs of Harshal’s over including three wides, a maximum, and a boundary.
Arshdeep, bowling the last over, gave away 13 runs as Tewatia collected boundaries on the last two deliveries.
(With inputs from IANS).
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