Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated Punjab Kings (PBKS) by six wickets, thanks to Rahul Tewatia, who smashed two sixes on the last two balls to seal the deal for his side at Mumbai’s Brabourne Stadium on Friday.
Chasing a massive target of 190, Gujarat lost opener Matthew Wade early in the fourth over. But before Punjab could further capitalise, opener Shubman Gill and debutant Sai Sudharsan took the game away by forming a sensational partnership.
The pair ended up adding 101 runs for the second wicket to keep Punjab bowlers at bay. The stand was broken by Rahul Chahar after he dismissed Sudarshan, who scored 35 from 30 balls, including five boundaries.
Meanwhile, Gill kept on pushing his team toward victory by ensuring Gujarat didn’t give up under the asking rate pressure. Gill was looking set to reach the triple-figure mark but fell short by just 4 runs when Kagiso Rabada dismissed him in the penultimate over.
As Punjab almost pulled things back, bringing down the equation to 12 runs from the last two balls, Tewatia stunned PBKS by hitting Odean Smith into the stands.
Earlier, Liam Livingstone starred with the willow to push Punjab towards a competitive score. The English star punished GT bowlers all around the park and smashed a quickfire half-century.
Livingstone took just 27 balls to score 64 with the help of 11 boundaries, including four sixes. Spinner Chahar chipped in with a valuable 22 not out off 14 deliveries to take Punjab to 189/9 in their allotted 20 overs.
For Gujarat, Rashid Khan shined with the ball, taking a brilliant three-wicket haul while conceding 22 runs in his quota of 4 overs. Debutant Darshan Nalkande also bagged a couple of scalps for 37 in three overs.
Here is how Twitter reacted:
#RahulTewatia UNREAL!! #PBKSvsGT #GTvsPBKS #CricketTwitter
— parthiv patel (@parthiv9) April 8, 2022
SIX, SIX – that’s the tweet! That’s the match! That’s @rahultewatia02 for you! #AavaDe #PBKSvGT #SeasonOfFirsts
— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) April 8, 2022
First two 50+ scores of an IPL franchise by the same player:
Aaron Finch for GL
Shubman Gill for GT#IPL2022 #GTvsPBKS— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) April 8, 2022
Some game this! Who would want to bowl to Tewatia at the death!!
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) April 8, 2022
Omg omg ! Unbelievable @rahultewatia02 does a Tewatia again #IPL2022 #TATAIPL2022 #PBKSvsGT
— Ridhima Pathak (@PathakRidhima) April 8, 2022
Whenever I watch @ShubmanGill bat, he exudes class. Has a rare quality called ‘balance’ : not just on the front foot but crucially very good on the back foot which makes him a fine all wicket batter. Give him time: Ideal number 3 for team India in all formats IMHO #GTvsPBKS
— Rajdeep Sardesai (@sardesairajdeep) April 8, 2022
He deserved a 100!
— KSR (@KShriniwasRao) April 8, 2022
Game-changing wicket! Kagiso Rabada gets Shubman Gill for 96 off 59. A top knock comes to an end! #IPL2022 #PBKSvGT
— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) April 8, 2022
He is so pleasing to watch @ShubmanGill has made a steep target look very gettable so far. @gujarat_titans
— Boria Majumdar (@BoriaMajumdar) April 8, 2022
End of a terrific knock by Shubman Gill, 96 runs from 59 balls, missed out deserving hundred by just 4 runs. Well played, Gill. pic.twitter.com/5wAooekPIp
— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) April 8, 2022
Before Kagiso Rabada was about to bowl Arshdeep Singh went upto him and the next ball you see Shubman Gill gets out and they were in the same U-19 batch. #PBKSvGT
— Prajakta (@18prajakta) April 8, 2022
What an Innings Shubman Gill. He scored 96 runs from 59 balls including 11 Fours and 1 Six against Punjab Kings while chasing 190 runs target. Outstanding Innings from Gill. Well played. pic.twitter.com/UunyuQkWrB
— CricketMAN2 (@ImTanujSingh) April 8, 2022
