The 15th season of the Indian Premier League has been stupendous till now, with every match being either finishing with a thriller, or we are getting chances to see some jaw-dropping knocks by batsmen. However in Gujarat Titans’ clash against the Punjab Kings, some magnificent knocks were there, and the match ended being an absolute thriller.
The Punjab Kings put up 189 for 9 wickets on the scoreboard, batting first, and it was a last-ball finisher for the Titans where they defeated their opponents by 6 wickets, with Rahul Tewatia taking the main credit. Here are three facts that led Gujarat Titans to pick up the win.
Brilliant Knock by Shubman Gill
Shubhman Gill has been in brilliant form this season and doing well for Gujarat Titans from the start of the campaign. In this match, while chasing a big target of 190, he scored his highest score in IPL which was 96 of 59 balls with 11 fours and one six. His big score paved the patch for the Titans to secure the win. He was given the man of the match award for his performance.
Darshan Nalkande and Rashid Khan changing the game
Both Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma were furious about their batting and it was necessary for the Titans to break their partnership. Darshan Nalkande gave it by dismissing Jitesh Sharma who got caught out, and in the next ball itself, he dismissed the West Indian power-hitter Odean Smith with a catch out as well. After that Rashid Khan was able to dismiss both Liam Livingstone and Shahrukh Khan soon, or else the score would have been higher than 190, and perhaps it would cross a way ahead of the 200 mark.
Tewatia the new finisher
Though Gujarat Titans were closing on the victory Punjab Kings were never out of the game. They still bowled tight and didn’t allow the Titans to snatch away the victory from them. In the last over 19 runs were needed, and David Miller was on strike. The first ball went wide, and in the second ball, Hardik Pandya got run out for a confusion.
Miller was able a score a four, but that didn’t help much, and the equation turned out to be 2 balls and 12 runs needed for the Titans with Rahul Tewatia on strike. The bowler was Odean Smith and Tewatia once again did a miracle which he once did by hitting 5 sixes to Sheldon Cottrell a couple of years back in IPL 2020. In this match, Tewatia hit two consecutive sixes in the last two balls, taking the Gujarat Titans home with the victory crown, and gifting us the best match of IPL 2022 now.
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