Only Sai Sudarshan’s unbeaten 65 off 50 balls was the saving grace for Gujarat
Only Sai Sudarshan’s unbeaten 65 off 50 balls was the saving grace for Gujarat
Fast bowler Kagiso Rabada took four wickets as Punjab Kings restricted Gujarat Titans to less than 143 for eight in the IPL here on Tuesday.
Only Sai Sudarshan’s unbeaten 65 off 50 balls was the saving grace for Gujarat 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 after Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya decided to bat. They lost openers Shubman Gill (9) and Wriddhiman Saha (21) 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, delivered a sitter to rival skipper Mayank Agarwal at mid-off, giving Rabada (4/33) his 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 (1/26) dismissed Hardik (1) early. Hardik tried to drive outside the off-length ball, but wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma put his team in all kinds of trouble after finishing it.
Then Sudarshan and David Miller (11) tried to advance the innings but could only add 23 runs in 30 balls. It fell to 67/4 after Miller was dismissed by Liam Livingstone (1/15), who missed a lofted 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 overtook Gujarat in the 17th over by dismissing Rahul Tewatia (11) and Rashid Khan (0) in successive deliveries to bowl Gujarat out for 112/6.
Rabada finished off a memorable spell by dismissing Lockie Ferguson (5). Sandeep Sharma (0/17), Arshdeep Singh (1/35), Rahul Chahar (0/11) and Livingstone also performed well for Punjab.