Rahul Tewatia is back. Tewatia hit 2 consecutive 6s when 12 runs were required of the last 2 balls to win the game for Gujarat Titans with 6 wickets in hand. The TATA IPL 2022 is bringing us nail-biters every evening. This festival of cricket has lived up to the hype that has been built around it. We have seen many youngsters bloom like flowers in this tournament. Tilak Varma and Ayush Badoni are two impressive names this season. On Friday evening, the Gujarat Titans locked horns with the Punjab Kings. The conquest saw several amazing performances. Liam Livingstone batted very well in the first innings to get a 50+ score. The second innings saw the storm of Shubman Gill. Here is an in-depth look at the game:
IPL 2022, GT VS PBKS, Gujarat Titans’ Playing 11:
Matthew Wade (wk), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Abhinav Manohar, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Mohammed Shami, Darshan Nalkande.
IPL 2022, GT VS PBKS, Punjab Kings’ Playing 11:
Mayank Agarwal (c), Shikhar Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Jonny Bairstow (wk), Jitesh Sharma, Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Vaibhav Arora, Arshdeep Singh.
IPL 2022, Punjab Kings’ Batting Innings (1st Innings):
The first inning was amazing. The Punjab Kings came in with the “Slam-Bang” approach. Irrespective of the situation, the Punjabi Munde were determined to keep smashing the ball. The start was not the ideal one as Mayank Agarwal was sent back early. His string of poor scores has lengthened. Johnny Bairstow was next to walk out to the middle. Johnny had bigs shoes to fill as Bhanuk Rajapaksha was a dominant force. It would have been a tough pill for him to swallow when he would have been asked to rest.
Johnny also couldn’t trouble the scorers much as he perished for a score of 8. Punjab was at 34-2. Punjab managed 43 runs in the mandatory powerplay. Liam Livingstone then came into his own. He blasted the bowlers and was toying with them. Liam stitched a partnership with Shikhar Dhawan and Jitesh Sharma as well. The team was then at 124-4 when Jitesh went back to the pavilion. The Punjab Kings kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Even Odean Smith handed out a catch to the fielder at long-off on his first ball.
Rahul Chahar managed a few hits in the final few overs. Shahrukh Khan also had his fair share of long hits into the stands. When Livingstone departed PBKS were at 156-5 and he had scored 64 in 27 balls. Punjab ended with 189 for 9 with contributions from Rahul Chahar, KG Rabada, and the rest of the tail.
Brief Scores:
- Liam Livingstone: 64 off 27 balls.
- Shikhar Dhawan:35 runs off 30 balls.
- Rashid Khan: 3/22.
Gujarat Titans’ Innings (Run-Chase):
The run-chase of this total was a roller-coaster ride. Shubman Gill and Matthew Wade started on a positive note. They belted the bowlers heavily. Before Wade could do much damage, Kagiso Rabada sent him back to the pavilion. Sai Sudarshan was the next to walk in. It was a brave call by the Gujarat management to back this youngster who was on debut. But his nervousness would’ve vanished seeing Shubman Gill bat in full flow. Gujarat was 53-1 after the powerplay.
Gill was unhinged even after the wicket of Matthew Wade. Sai just moved the ball around while Shubman was giving us a masterclass. It was a 100+partnership between the two players. This is only the second 100+ partnership in this TATA IPL 2022. When Sai Sudarshan was out Gujarat was placed at 133-2. Hardik walked in next. The game was in hands of Gujarat and Hardik alongside Shubman took the game deep. They played till the 17th over when 32 runs were required of the last 12 balls.
Shubman Gill’s resilience and the attack ended when he was at his career-best 96 runs. Hardik had to run the show from there. He hit two 4s. Miller walked in and played a silly shot to cover a half-volley. 19 runs were required in the last over. Hardik was run-out on the first legitimate delivery by Johnny Bairstow. Rahul Tewatia walked in. David Miller hit a 4. Tewatia got on strike when 12 were required of the last 2 balls. Tewatia smacked Odean Smith’s last 2 balls for 2 huge sixes over long-on and won the game for Gujarat. It was a heroic finish. One of the iconic games of TATA IPL 2022 had just ended.
Brief Scores:
- Gujarat Titans: 190/4 won the game by 6 wickets in hand.
- Shubman Gill: 96 of 59.
- Hardik Pandya: 27 off 18 balls.
- Rahul Tewatia: 13 off 3 balls.
- KG Rabada: 2/35.
To know more go to the official website of Gujarat Titans.
To know more go to the official website of the Punjab Kings.