Gujarat Titans, the defending IPL winners, defeated Punjab Kings by six wickets on Thursday in Mohali thanks in large part to India’s opening batsman Shubman Gill.
Gujarat, captained by Hardik Pandya, was cruising to win until Sam Curran, an English all-rounder, dismissed Gill for 67 in the penultimate over of the chase to give Punjab hope.
After being given the opportunity to bat by their opponents, Punjab, led by former India opener Shikhar Dhawan, could only muster 153-8 points.
Rahul Tewatia hit the penultimate ball for four to win the game despite Curran’s best efforts to protect seven off the final over. Rahul Tewatia was the most expensive player in tournament history at $2.23 million.
None of the Punjab batsmen were able to increase their small starting totals earlier due to Gujarat’s extremely disciplined bowling performance.
Former India bowler Mohit Sharma, who played for Pandya’s squad for the first time, bowled cleanly and claimed a crisp 2-18 in a performance that won him the match.
Rashid Khan (1-26) of Afghanistan, Alzarri Joseph (1-32) of the West Indies, and Josh Little (1-31) of Ireland all provided strong assistance for Sharma.
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Prabhsimran Singh was out for a second-ball duck for Punjab, and Dhawan (8) soon after.
The innings was stabilized by the Australian Matthew Short, who scored 36 off 24 balls before succumbing to spin from Khan, and Sri Lanka’s Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who needed 26 balls to reach 20 before Joseph grabbed his wicket.
Punjab achieved a below-average score because to Shahrukh Khan’s fast 22 and support from Curran (22) and Jitesh Sharma (25).
In contrast, Gujarat’s opening pair of Gill and Wriddhiman Saha (30) built a solid basis for the chase with their 48-run partnership.
Before Tewatia scored the winning runs, they were supported by youngster Sai Sudharsan (19) and South African David Miller (17 not out).
