IPL 2023, Punjab Kings (PBKS) vs Gujarat Titans (GT), Top Performances: Mohit Sharma’s 2-18, Shubman Gill’s 67(49) and Rashid Khan’s 1-26 are the top performances. GT beat PBKS by 6 wickets and move to number 3 position.
Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans 154-4 (Shubman Gill 67, Wriddhiman Saha 30, Sam Curran 1-25, Harpreet Brar 1-20) beat Punjab Kings 153-8 (Matthew Short 36, Jitesh Sharma 25, Mohit Sharma 2-18, Rashid Khan 1-26) by 6 wickets.
Player of the Match: Mohit Sharma (2-18)
Chakde phatte! Well not quite for the home side as Punjab Kings were thoroughly decimated by Gujarat Titans by a sizeable margin of 6 wickets. The 18th match of the TATA IPL edition got underway between the two sides on April 13th at I.S Bindra Stadium in Mohali.
Titans were elected to the field after winning the toss on a track that appeared to be a batting paradise. And the decision paid off as Prabsimran Singh and Shikhar Dhawan were back in the hut in no time. But with the arrival of Matthew Short, PBKS were able to steady the ship and fend off the Gujarat bowling, taking them to a score of 52-2 at the end of the powerplay. However, the scoring rate mellowed down during the middle overs as Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Jitesh Sharma were unable to put their foot on the accelerator. GT bowlers featuring the likes of Sharma and Rashid Khan bowled brilliantly drying up the runs for PBKS as they eventually ended up with a below par total to 153-7.
In response, the Gujarat Giants openers got off to a rollicking start scoring boundaries after boundaries. There was simply no stopping them as they raced to 44 by the end of the 4th over without losing any wickets. PBKS tried crawling back in the game picking 3 scalps which also included the skipper Hardik Pandya. But a fine batting master class from Shubman Gill meant that GT had enough legs to get over the line.
Read More: IPL 2023, SRH vs PBKS: SRH present improved batting performance, register first victory this season
Talking Point: PBKS’s lethargic show with the bat
PKBS ended the powerplay on a high note with a score of 52-2 thanks to the quickfire contribution from Matthew Short. Unfortunately for PBKS, things went downhill when Short was dismissed. Rajapaksa and Sharma consumed way too many deliveries in the middle overs, which left PBKS away from acompetitive total. A total of only 5 sixes were recorded in the PBKS innings. Rajapaksa’s 20(26) coming at a strike rate of nearly 78 became regarded as one of the slowest IPL innings with 25 balls or more. Sam Curran too could not get going in the death overs as he fell prey to Sharma’s immaculate bowling. Their lacklustre batting display left too much burden on the shoulders of the lower middle order leaving them with a very shambolic total on a very good batting track. Barring today’s game, Punjab’s batting has so far looked very vulnerable in the ongoing tournament. Apart from Shikhar Dhawan, none of the batters seem to be getting their acts together. The team is too reliant on Dhawan’s contrubution and that approach may not be sustainable in the long run as they progress further into the tournament. The PBKS think tank needs to address their batting concerns big time before it gets too late.
Top performances from Punjab Kings (PBKS) vs Gujarat Titans (GT)
Mohit Sharma’s delightful comeback after being on the sidelines
Mohit Sharma made his first IPL appearance since 2020 and made quite an impact achieving figures of 2-18 in his allotted 4 overs which included 12 dots. After a very long gap, Sharma didn’t show any signs of nerves and bowled with absolute control. His back of the hand slower balls were used effectively and the PBKS batters were unable to get under it. He later got the prize wicket of Curran who was beginning to shift gears. Overall, he had a memorable outing with the ball as he emerged as the most economical bowler from the GT line up.
Shubman Gill’s cool and collected approach to the chase
It goes without saying that the youngster is in the form of his life. Shubman Gill emerged as the highest run getter for his side scoring 67 (49) at an impressive strike rate of 136. His innings included 7 fours and 1 six. Unlike other GT batters, Gill relied solely on timing and placement and scored a majority of the runs without taking undue risks. He stayed till the end before he was taken out by Curran in the final over of the match.
Rashid Khan’s uncanny spell with the ball
The T20 spin bowling specialist was right on the money as he gave just 26 runs away in his allotted 4 overs at 6.5 RPO. What’s more important to consider is the way he set up and eventually bamboozled Matthew Short who was looking all set to launch himself. Rashid Khan delivered a sharp wrong un pitching way outside the off stump line which came back in a long way knocking his middle stump. That timely wicket proved to be the turning point in the game as the PBKS innings, and rapidly slowed down following his dismissal, which allowed GT to acquire an upper hand in the game.
Points Table Scenario and What’s Next
PBKS suffered a very deflating defeat in today’s fixture and remain at number 6 position in the points table with a dismal NRR of – 0.226. They will now face Lucknow Super Giants in their next encounter at Lucknow on April 15. Whereas, GT on the other hand have turned things around and recovered well after the Rinku Sharma blitzkrieg. They have now moved to number 3 position with healthy NRR of 0.341. They will now host to Rajasthan Royals at home in their next encounter on April 16.
IPL 2023 Points Table
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