IPL 2023, 18th Match: Gujarat Titans 154 for 4 (Gill 67, Saha 30, Brar 1-20) beat Punjab Kings 153 for 8 (Short 36, Jitesh 25, Mohit 2-18) by six wickets

Another last-over thriller occurs every day. However, compared to some of the earlier games IPL 2023 has witnessed, this one was not as chaotic. However, it still required the assistance of the iceman Rahul Tewatia. Tewatia calmly scooped Sam Curran, who was bowling extremely well, over fine leg with four balls remaining, ensuring that Gujarat Titans defeated Punjab Kings by six wickets.

The pursuit appeared to be straightforward for a long time. Having limited Lords to 153 for 8 with an overall show from the bowlers on a respectable Mohali surface, Titans were cruising, driven by a tasteful 49-ball 67 from Shubman Gill.

However, with 13 required off 12, Arshdeep Singh bowled a nerveless sixth over that ended with just six runs. Curran then bowled an inch-perfect yorker that almost led to David Miller’s run-out after cleaning up Gill’s second ball of the final over. Despite everything, Tewatia prevailed by maintaining his cool, as he always does.

Kings’ batting plans go awry

Prabhsimran Singh calmly clipped a harmless Mohamad Shami back-of-a-length ball to short midwicket after Kings were sent to bat. This was Singh’s second consecutive duck. The Kings’ star batsman, Shikhar Dhawan, skied Josh Little to mid-on, resulting in his 8-run loss. Matthew Short, on the other hand, immediately impressed. He kicked off two fresh fours. Lords dashed to 52 for 2 in the powerplay, however when Short tumbled to a Rashid Khan googly, the innings unwound.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa oversaw 20 off 26 balls, Jitesh Sharma 25 off 23, while Curran scored a run-a-ball 22. Kings suffer the most from the dots. Indeed, even in the powerplay where they pulled out all the stops, there were 20 balls which the hitters neglected to score off, while in the center overs – 7 to 16 – there were 28 spot balls. In contrast, Titans only faced 18 dots in the middle phase and 12 dots in the first six overs.

Shahrukh Khan, ranked No. 7 hit a 9-ball 22 to push Kings over the 150-point mark, but it was never enough.

Mohit turns back the clock

Mohit Sharma hasn’t had the best experience with it. He had a good start in the IPL, won a purple cap in 2014, and even made it to the national team. However, his fortunes began to decline quickly. Mohit played one IPL game for Delhi Capitals in 2020, prior to this match. He was a net bowler for Titans last year, his work provoking the establishment to offer for him in 2023. He also delivered an excellent debut to repay the faith. Mohit bowled overs 11, 13, 15 and 19, yielded 18 runs and got two key wickets. The variations were back, and the most important thing was that he had control over them again, something that had been missing for a few years.

Shubman Gill lights up the chase

Titans’ pursuit got off to an ideal beginning kindness Gill and Wriddhiman Saha. With a lovely cover drive from Arshdeep, Gill was up and away, clipping Kagiso Rabada through the middle. Before he laid into Arshdeep and creamed him for four fours in the third over, Saha got his boundary counter going with a stylish cover drive off Rabada. This helped Titans get to 36 for 0 after three overs. While Rabada asserted Saha’s wicket – his 100th in the IPL – Titans scored 56 runs in the powerplay. Kings needed to improve their use of the new ball, especially considering that they could only defend 153.

After that, Gill and Sai Sudharsan added 41 runs for the second wicket in 40 balls, focusing more on singles than boundaries. Before Gill scored his second IPL fifty with a lofted four over extra cover, Hardik Pandya came and went. The opening shot, an 81-meter six from Rabada, stood out as the contest went on. He also combined with Miller to score 42 runs off 30 balls, but his dismissal in the final out broke the game open—at least until Tewatia ended it.

Impact Player Strategy

Kings brought in Rahul Chahar in place of Rajapaksa at the conclusion of their first innings, whereas Titans did not use their impact player. Chahar neglected to make a big deal about an effect, going for 24 runs in his three overs and neglecting to pick a wicket.