Gujarat Titans overcame some jitters before pulling off a six-wicket victory over Punjab Kings in Mohali on Thursday.
Chasing 154, the Titans had everything going in their favour with Shubman Gill showing the way with a polished 67 off 49 balls. They needed seven off the final over but Gill’s departure on the second ball brought the nerves into play.
Sam Curran then bowled two yorkers to make it tough for the Titans as they needed four from the last two balls. But Rahul Tewatia scooped the penultimate delivery over fine leg to complete a well-deserved victory.
The wicket was a bit challenging but Gill and Wriddhiman Saha gave them a good start. Even three dismissals had very little effect as Gill held fort. David Miller and Gill got going till the final over jitters.
Earlier, a familiar collapse left Punjab Kings in tatters until a late resurgence helped them reach 153 for eight.
Gujarat Titans’ Wriddhiman Saha in Mohali on Thursday. Saha reached the milestone of 2,500 IPL runs during his 19-ball 30. PTI picture
Titans’ medium-pacer Mohit Sharma marked his return to the IPL with excellent figures of 2/18. Playing in his first game in the IPL since 2020, Mohit was exceptional in the penultimate over, giving away as few as six runs.
Matthew Short top-scored with 36 off 24 balls, but it was M. Shahrukh Khan’s nine-ball 22 that helped Punjab cross 150.
Sent in to bat by Titans skipper Hardik Pandya, Punjab lost Prabhsimran Singh on the second ball of the match.
Short walked in at No.3 and he got off the mark with a boundary, striking the ball through point. The next ball was pulled through the square leg region for another four.
Sharing the new ball with Mohammed Shami, Joshua Little was welcomed with two boundaries by the in-form Shikhar Dhawan.
Australian Short took on Shami and hit him for back-to-back fours, including an authoritative boundary through mid-off. However, just when Punjab seemed to be putting the Titans under pressure, Little gave his team a huge breakthrough, dismissing the dangerous Dhawan (8). Their innings lost direction from thereon.
