#TATAIPL-2024-37 : In A Low-Scoring Encounter, Gujarat Titans Powered By Their Spin Trio Beat Punjab Kings By 3 Wickets

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