MOHALI: Shubman Gill’s knock of 67 powered Gujarat Giants to a 6-wicket win over Punjab Kings in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at the Punjab Cricket Association IS Bindra Stadium here on Thursday.
Gill scored the highest for Gujarat while Wriddhiman Saha played a knock of 30 runs off 19. For PBKS, Sam Curran, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada and Arshdeep Singh bagged one wicket each.
Chasing a target of 154, Gujarat Giants openers got off to a flying start as Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill hammered Arshdeep Singh for four boundaries gathering 18 runs in the third over of the game.
Kagiso Rabada then came into the bowling attack and provided his team with a big breakthrough as he dismissed well-set batter Saha for 30 runs.
Punjab bowlers delivered some fine spells to restrict Gujarat batters from playing big shorts. The left-handed batter Sai Sudharsan then came out to bat. After 10 overs Gujarat’s score read 80/1.
Sudharsan’s innings at the crease was cut short as Arshdeep delivered a short ball to remove Gujarat batter for 19. Captain Hardik Pandya then came out to bat.
Harpreet Brar then spin a web around the Gujarat captain and dismissed Pandya for 8 runs in the 15th over of the game. Hard-hitting batter David Miller then came out to bat. With a four in the 16th over Gill brought up his fifty in 40 balls.
Sam Curran then provided his team with a big breakthrough as he dismissed a dangerous batter Gill for 67 in the last over. Rahul Tewatia then came out to bat when Punjab needed to win 6 runs in 4 balls and hit the winning boundary for his team on the fifth ball of the last over to guide his team home with a 6-wicket win.
Earlier, top knocks by Shahrukh Khan, Jitesh Sharma and Matthew Short helped Punjab Kings post a total of 153/8 against Gujarat Giants.
For PBKS, Matthew scored the highest with 36 off 24 and Shahrukh Khan played a quickfire knock of 22 in 9 balls while Jitesh slammed 25 runs from 23 balls. For GT, Mohit Sharma bagged two while Joshua Little, Mohammed Shami and Rashid Khan claimed one wicket each.
Opted to bowl first, Gujarat Giants bowlers struck early as Mohammed Shami drew the first blood on the second ball of the first over. Shami removed Prabhsimran for a two-ball duck.
Matthew Short then came out to bat and the batter slammed Shami for back-to-back two fours.
Punjab captain Shikhar Dhawan could not continue his red-hot form in the match as he was sent back to the pavilion after scoring 8 runs by Joshua Little in the 4th over. After being two wickets down, Short played some fine short and kept piling runs at regular intervals to keep the momentum going for his team.
However, Short’s 36 runs stay at the crease came to an end as he was dismissed by Rashid Khan in the 7th over of the game.
The right-handed batter Jitesh Sharma then came out to bat. After 10 overs Punjab’s score read 75/3. The duo of Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Jitesh were decisive in their approach and made the Gujarat bowlers toil hard making merry of the excellent batting conditions on offer.
The batters rotated the strike brilliantly, not allowing the Gujarat bowlers to settle down while whacking the loose balls on offer.
Mohit Sharma then gave Punjab a big blow as he dismissed Jitesh Sharma for 25 in the 13th over of the game.
Star all-rounder Sam Curran then came out to bat and slammed Gujarat bowlers all around the ground with Rajapaksa to ease some pressure from his team. However, Rajapaksa’s innings at the crease came to an end as he was dismissed by Alzarri Joseph after scoring 20 runs.
The right-handed batter Shahrukh Khan then came out to bat and slammed a six over the deep mid-wicket stands to open his account. The batting pair hammered Shami for 15 runs.
In the 19th over Mohit Sharma struck again and dismissed Curran for 22 runs. Harpreet Brar then came out to bat. In the last over, Gujarat’s Joshua Little produced a stunning spell to restrict Punjab Kings to 153/8.
Brief score: Punjab Kings 153/8 (Matthew Short 36, Jitesh Sharma 25; Mohit Sharma 2-18) vs Gujarat Titans 154/4 (Shubman Gill 67, Wriddhiman Saha 30; Harpreet Brar 1-20). (ANI)