KINGS PREVAIL OVER TITANS
Shashank, Ashutosh’s cameos help Punjab beat Gujarat by three wickets
Shashank received valuable support from impact substitute Ashutosh Sharma who scored a quickfire 31 (17b, 3x4, 1x6) as the duo added 43 runs for the seventh wicket
AHMEDABAD: Shashank Singh’s unbeaten 61 (29b, 6x4, 4x6) helped Punjab Kings earn a thrilling three-wicket win over Gujarat Titans in the IPL here on Thursday. Set to chase 200, Punjab got there with one ball to spare. With its second victory in four matches, Punjab moves up to fifth in the table, while former champion Gujarat lies one spot below with 4 points from four matches.
Shashank received valuable support from impact substitute Ashutosh Sharma who scored a quickfire 31 (17b, 3x4, 1x6) as the duo added 43 runs for the seventh wicket.
Earlier, skipper Shubman Gill led from the front with an unbeaten fifty to steer Gujarat to 199 for four.
Gill made 89 off 48 balls, the highest individual score this season so far, and in the process hit six fours and four sixes to guide GT’s innings, which was also helped generously by B Sai Sudharsan’s 19-ball 33 and Rahul Tewatia’s 8-ball 23.
Sent into bat, opener Gill made a rousing start to the innings as he clobbered spinner Harpreet Brar straight over his head for the first six of the match. Runs flowed for GT till the third over before Kagiso Rabada (2/44) ousted Wriddhiman Saha, latched by PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan at mid-off.
Kane Williamson (26 off 22), who replaced injured David Miller, looked in great touch as he hit Sam Curran and Rabada for a few boundaries to keep GT scoreboard ticking.
But Williamson’s knock was cut short by Brar’s extra bounce, caught at backward point by Jonny Bairstow in the ninth over. Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza was taken to task by Gill and new man Sudharshan as the duo picked up 14 runs off the 12th over, courtesy three hits to the fence. Gill led from the front and clobbered Rabada for a maximum before Sudharsan struck the bowler to the mid-off boundary to keep up the tempo. Sudharsan went about his business in style, picking up boundaries at will while Gill was happy to play the second fiddle. Sudharsan’s cameo came to an end when Harshal Patel snared him, caught by wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma as the batter went for an upper cut off a slow delivery. Gill brought up his fifty off 31 balls with a boundary behind deep square leg in the 15th over. Gill was at his imperious best in front of the wicket as he dispatched Harshal over longon for a maximum in the 17th over.
While Gill was going all guns blazing from one end, Vijay Shankar was flat and was caught by a diving Brar at long-off off Rabada. In his second spell, Harshal was wayward with his lengths and Tewatia made good use of it as the penultimate over yielded 20 runs. Tewatia played a blinder, including two boundaries of pacer Arshdeep Singh in the last two balls.