Livingstone and Dhawan GT. celebrating his victory against
Punjab Kings beat Gujarat Titans by eight wickets to register their fifth win of the season. they finished IPL Five-match winning streak for the table-toppers.
pacer Kagiso Rabada Punjab Kings took four wickets and restricted Gujarat Titans to a score of 143 for eight. Hardik Pandya Decided to bat first.
Punjab, who made a mess in their straight chase in their last game, learned from their mistakes to lead the innings better and cross the target in 16 overs.
Dhawan scored his third half-century of the season and was well supported by Bhanuka Rajapaksa who entertained with five fours and a six.
captain Mayank Agarwal dropped himself in order to adjust Jonny Bairstow at the top of the command but this step didn’t work.
However, an 87-run stand between left-hander Dhawan and Rajapaksa ensured that Punjab got home comfortably.
Liam Livingstone displayed some brutal hitting towards the end of the chase and hit India’s premier pacer Mohammed Shami for four sixes at 117m deep square leg.
The 16th over that went for 30 also gave a big boost to PBKS’s net run rate.
It was a much-needed win for Punjab, who have struggled for consistency this season with five wins and as many losses.
For Gujarat, who are set to make the play-offs, it was a timely wake-up call to fix their batting issues, especially in the top-order. He had someone to help him out of difficult situations but on Tuesday it was not so.
Earlier, Sai Sudarshan’s unbeaten 65 off 50 balls was the saving grace in Gujarat’s innings as the Punjab bowlers hit only 11 fours and two sixes.
Sudarshan was successful in hitting five fours and a six, but ran out of partners as Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya decided to bat.
they lost the openers Shubman Gill And Wriddhiman Co: cheaply. Gill, who had hit two boundaries, was dismissed in the third over due to a direct hit from cover by Rishi Dhawan.
Saha, who started off aggressively in the next over, gave a sitter to rival skipper Mayank Agarwal at mid-off, giving Rabada the first wicket. Saha, who hit three boundaries and a six, was undone by extra bounce as he tried to play a high shot but got it wrong and paid the price.
Gujarat further slipped to 44/3 as pacer Rishi Dhawan dismissed Hardik early. Hardik tries to drive outside the off length ball but ends it leaving wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma in all sorts of trouble for his team.
Then Sudarshan and David Miller tried to advance the innings but could only add 23 runs in 30 balls.
It went to 67/4 after Miller was dismissed by Liam Livingstone, who missed a loft drive to be caught by Rabada at long-off.
Sudarshan tried to change gears from the 11th over when he pulled Livingstone for his first boundary, but was unable to free his hands repeatedly.
Rabada removed Rahul Teotia and Rashid Khan in successive deliveries in the 17th over to put Gujarat back, with GT on 112/6.
Rabada finished off a memorable spell by dismissing Lockie Ferguson.
Sandeep Sharma, Arshdeep Singh, Rahul Chahar and Livingstone also played their part perfectly for Punjab.
(Inputs from PTI)