Punjab Kings, an IPL franchise co-owned by Preity Zinta secured its second victory in the season after losing its previous two matches in a row against Royal Challengers Bangalore and Lucknow Super Giants respectively.
With the crucial two points on the point table, PBKS which was previously in 7th position plunged to 5th, surpassing GT with a net run rate (NRR) of -0.220.
The 17th match of the Indian Premier League pitted PBKS and GT against each other yesterday evening at the world’s biggest Cricket stadium and Titans home ground – Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. GT who had won its last match against Sunrisers Hyderabad was seen in a neck-and-neck contest with Kings.
Shimmering moments of the match
The Skippers of the teams – Shikhar Dhawan (PBKS) and Shubham Gill (GT) were seen on the field during the match where Punjab won the toss and decided to bowl first. Thus, the first inning has GT’s batsman on the field with the troop of Punjab restricting their runs with their fielding and bowling.
Gujarat’s captain and Right-Handed Indian Batsman Shubman Gill was seen delivering a good performance yesterday with his knock of 89 off 48 balls and remaining not out till the end of the inning. This came after many doubted his form to be deteriorating after taking up the onus of captaincy as he was seen struggling to score well in his previous matches and also got fined a whooping 12 Lakh rupees after his team maintained a slow over rate in its match against Chennai Super Kings.
Gill was seen lightening up the stadium with his sparkling show of raining boundaries. He smashed phenomenal four 6s and creamed amazing six 4s. Kane Williamson was also witnessed hitting four boundaries and contributing a good 26 runs off 22 balls to the team before he lost his wicket to Harpreet Brar after being caught by English Batsman Jonny Bairstow. Rallying behind them was Rahul Tewatia who stole the show by batting at an unbelievable run rate of 287.50. Tewatia was seen delivering an exquisite knock of 23 runs off only 8 balls with his ravishing three 4s and a six.
GT’s exceptional batting helped them make a good defending score of 199 runs after the fall of 4 wickets. Kagiso Rabada helped Punjab to get its 2 crucial wickets after leaking 44 runs. The rising superstar of Punjab, Harpreet Brar also bagged one wicket with an economy of 8.25. The recently bought Harshal Patel also took one wicket and leaked 44 runs. Though Arshdeep had to return wicketless he was the most economical bowler of PBKS with an economy of 8.25.
Punjab Kings in the next innings got to chase a big total of 200 runs. But the blistering knock of Shashank got it done for PBKS. Shashank Singh an Indian right-handed batsman from Chhattisgarh turned out to be the top scorer of Punjab in the match yesterday. He scrapped all the controversies that lingered around his accidental purchase in the IPL auction for this season with his electrifying play.
Before he came to play at 6th number, Punjab’s batting line-up was seen struggling as it lost its crucial wickets of Prabhsimran and Jonny Bairstow. The captain of Punjab Shikhar Dhawan couldn’t contribute much as he lost his wicket early after being bowled out by Umesh Yadav.
Prabhsimran was seen in good form as he mustered 35 runs off 24 balls with five 4s and one 6. Jonny Bairstow maintained a good partnership with Simran before he got out by Noor Ahmed after hitting four fours. Jitesh Sharma was also seen delivering a short yet accelerating cameo to the Kings after he smashed two beautiful 6s and batted with an appreciable run rate of 200 before being caught by Darshan Nalkande.
The duo of Ashutosh and Shashank both uncapped players, brought Punjab to the winning shore by hitting dazzling boundaries. The debutant, Ashutosh Sharma batted with a run rate of 182.35 and contributed 31 runs to the team with just the usage of 17 balls. He stepped out of the crease to smash four big boundaries – three 4s and one blistering 6.
The player of the match, Shashank Singh delivered a jaw-dropping inning of smashing 61 runs off 29 balls. He entertained the crowd of Ahmedabad with his blockbuster of celluloid of raining boundaries- six exhilarating fours and four fiery sixes. The hero was seen fighting till the last and also made the winning 1 run for the team. The run was later reviewed by GT to check the last ball which resulted in a leg-by but before the final result was reflected, celebration was seen in King’s dugout.
GT took a total of 7 wickets with Noor Ahmed being most economical with an economy of 8.00 after delivering 4 overs.
Punjab Kings registers a new record to its name
After its victory against Gujarat Titans by chasing a massive score of 200, Punjab Kings became the team that has made the most 200-run chases in the IPL. Punjab has chased down 200 or above successfully six times in the IPL, surpassing Mumbai on the list which has done it five times.
