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Punjab Kings came out with one of their best performances at the Tata IPL 2022 as they beat table toppers Gujarat Titans by an emphatic 8 wickets in the 48th match at the DY Patil stadium.
Titans skipper Hardik Pandya chose to bat after winning the toss . But to his agony found Kings bowlers all over them from the start. The Titans innings slumped slumped from the start . Wriddhiman Saha ( 21), Shubhman Gill ( 9) Skipper Hardik Pandya ( 1), David Miller ( 11) , Rahul Tewatia ( 11), Rashid Khan ( 0). Top guns flopping. It was only Sai Sudharsan who somewhat held the innings with his unbeaten 50 ball 64 with five fours and one six and Titans just managed to score a modest 143 / 8 in their 20 overs.
For the Punjab Kings , Kagiso Rabada was outstanding with splendid figures of 4/33( 4 overs), Arshdeep Singh 1/ 35 ( 4 overs), Rishi Dhawan 1/ 26 ( 4 overs) , Liam Livingstone 1/15 ( 2 .3 overs) were the wicket- takers.
In reply Punjab Kings were hardly bothered . Jonny Bairstow promoted to open the innings with Shikhar Dhawan failed to fire . Bairstow was out for ( 1). Skipper Mayank Agarwal pushing himself down the order. Punjab Kings game plan was simple – improve the run rate , win quick . Despite Bairstow dismissal , Punjab were on track courtesy seasoned Shikhar Dhawan. Dhawan once again anchored the innings superbly first with Sri Lankan Bhanu Rajapaksa who scored a fine 28 ball 40 ( 5 fours, 1 six). The duo put on a match- winning 87 run partnership. Rajapakas was out on the total of 97 in12 overs. Punjab were in total control . Dhawan remained unbeaten with a splendid 53 ball 62 ( 8 fours , 1 six).
Needing a quick win Englishman Liam Livingstone showed his brute force in his blistering unbeaten 10 ball 32 . Livingstone hammered Mohammed Shami for three sixes and two fours. One six was a monstrous 117 metres the biggest of the Tata IPL 2022. Livingstone blitz saw Punjab race away to 145/ 2 in 16 overs and four overs to spare . A win that would do their run rate world of good .
6.6.6.4 – Liam Livingstone doing it his way 🚀🚀🚀
Live – https://t.co/LcfJL3mlUQ #GTvPBKS #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/O6U537Pjdb
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 3, 2022
Dhawan and Livingstone put on 48 in 24 balls. Shami’s over read – 6,6,6,4,2,4 ( 28 runs) . It was carnage from Livingstone . The emphatic Punjab win brought smile on the face of team’s co- owner Preity Zinta who was in the stands cheering her side .
For The Titans it was match to forget . Their bowling figures were : Mohammed Shami 1/ 43( 4 overs) , Lockie Ferguson 1/ 29 ( 4 overs) , Pradeep Sangwan 0/ 23 ( 2 overs) , Alzarri Joseph 0/ 25 ( 3 overs) , Rashid Khan 0/ 21 ( 4 overs)
