Gujarat Titans Defeat Punjab Kings, Win by 4 Wickets in Another Last Over Finish: In the 18th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, the Gujarat Titans faced off against the Punjab Kings at the Mohali Stadium on April 13, 2023. The match turned out to be a thriller as the Titans won by six wickets with one ball remaining.
Shubman Gill was the star for the Titans, scoring 67 runs off 49 balls, while Rahul Tewatia provided the finishing touches with a nerveless scoop over fine leg off Sam Curran in the last over. In this article, we will go through the detailed report of the match and analyze the performances of the players.
The Kings won the toss and decided to bat first. However, their batting plans went awry as they lost Prabhsimran Singh for a duck in the first over itself. Shikhar Dhawan, the star of the Kings’ batting unit, also fell cheaply for eight runs.
Matthew Short looked impressive from the start and got going with two crisp fours. The Kings raced to 52 for 2 in the powerplay, but once short fell to a Rashid Khan googly, the innings unravelled.
Bhanuka Rajapaksa managed 20 off 26 balls, Jitesh Sharma 25 off 23, while Sam Curran scored a run-a-ball 22. The dot balls hurt the Kings the most, as they failed to score off 20 balls in the powerplay and 28 dot balls in the middle overs.
In contrast, the Titans faced only 12 dot balls in the first six overs and 18 dots in the middle phase. Shahrukh Khan, coming in at No. 7, smashed a 9-ball 22 to get the Kings over the 150-mark, but it was never going to be enough.
The Titans’ chase got off to a perfect start, courtesy of Gill and Wriddhiman Saha. Gill was up and away with a lovely cover drive off Arshdeep Singh before clipping Kagiso Rabada through mid-on. Saha got his boundary counter running with a stylish cover drive off Rabada before he laid into Arshdeep, creaming him for four fours in the third over, as the Titans raced to 36 for 0 after three overs.
While Rabada did claim Saha’s wicket, Titans scored 56 runs in the powerplay, leaving the Kings needing to be better with the new ball, especially given they were defending only 153.
Sai Sudharsan and Gill then added 41 runs for the second wicket off 40 balls, with both players concentrating more on singles than boundaries. Hardik Pandya came and went, but the Titans looked comfortable, needing 13 runs off 12 balls. Arshdeep Singh bowled a nerveless penultimate over, going for just six runs and taking one wicket, leaving the Titans needing seven runs off the last over.
Sam Curran came on to bowl the last over, and Titans needed four runs off the last two balls. Tewatia then played a scoop over fine leg for a boundary, and the Titans won the match by six wickets with one ball remaining. Gill was named the Player of the Match for his excellent knock of 67 runs off 49 balls.
It was a disappointing outing for the Kings, who failed to put up a competitive score and then leaked too many runs too early with the ball in a modest chase. However, the Titans will take heart from this victory as they return to winning ways, with Gill and Tewatia showing their class in a crucial match.
In conclusion, the 18th match of IPL 2023 turned out to be an exciting contest between the Punjab Kings and the Gujarat Titans. Although Titans won the game, the Kings had put on a good show.
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