Picture : IPL / X
Rahul Tewatia kept his cool towards the end as he guided the Gujarat Titans to a three- wicket win over Punjab Kings in a Tata IPL 2024 encounter .
Earlier, Punjab Kings needing to win desperately after losing some really close matches, saw their Skipper Sam Curran win the toss and opted to bat first. But Punjab Kings move did not pay off as the batting fell apart.
The Gujarat Titans spinners bowled well in tandem and tightened the flow of runs. Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad were tough to get away . Punjab Kings batsmen succumbed to the pressure and wily spin trio.
Punjab Kings Skipper Sam Curran opening the innings was out early for ( 6) . Fellow opener Prabhsimran Singh promised much but fell for 35 ( 21 balls , 3 fours, 3 sixes), South African Rilee Rossouw in place of out of form Jonny Bairstow was out for 9 , Jitesh Sharma scored ( 13). A huge disappointment this season Liam Livingstone fell cheaply for ( 6). His failure has hurt Kings big time in the middle- order .
The onus was now on Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma to do repeat of their earlier heroics . But it was not to be as both fell for 8 and 3 respectively . Harpreet Singh ( 14), Harpreet Brar thew his bat around for his 29 as Punjab were bowled out for a modest and dismal 142 / 10 in their 20 overs.
GT bowling was pot on : Sai Kishore led the spin charge with impressive figures of 4/ 33 ( 4 overs), Noor Ahmad 2/ 20 ( 4 overs) , Rashid Khan was tight as usual with splendid figures of 1/ 15 ( 4 overs) , Mohit Sharma 2/ 32 ( 4 overs), Sandeep Warrier 0/ 21 ( 1 over) , Azmatullah Omarzai0/ 13 ( 2 over) Shahrukh Khan 0/ 7 ( 1 over)
The onus was now on GT batsmen to chase the modest target for a easy win. GT lost opener Wriddhiman Saha early for 13. GT Skipper Shubman Gill looked fluent but fell for 35 ( 29 balls , 5 fours) and was given a send off by Liam Livingstone who took his wicket caught by Kagiso Rabada . Dangerous David Miller was bowled by Liam Livingstone for 4.
Sai Sudharsan was bowled by Sam Curran for 31 ( 34 balls , 3 fours ) with the GT total at 97/ 4 . Azmatullah Omarzai soon fell for 13 . Shahrukh Khan was out for 8 . Rashid Khan was the seventh wicket to fall for 3.
Despite losing wickets, Rahul Tewatia kept the GT on the hunt with his unbeaten cameo 36 ( 18 balls , 7 fours ) and fittingly hit the winning four to take GT home by three wickets and five balls to spare . Sai Kishore was not out 0 . GT finishing at 146/ 7 in 19. 5 overs.
Punjab bowling : Kagiso Rabada 0/ 40 ( 4 overs) a below par show. Arshdeep Singh 1/ 17 ( 2.1 overs), Harshal Patel 3/ 15 ( 3 overs), Sam Curran 1/ 18 ( 2 overs) , Harpreet Brar 0/ 35 ( 4 overs), Liam Livingstone 2/ 19 ( 4 overs)
Match: IPL 2024, 37th Match
Venue: Mohali | Date: April 21, 2024
