Gujarat Titans (GT) and India batter Shubman Gill played another outstanding knock that helped his side beat Punjab Kings (PBKS) in a close encounter in IPL 2023. Shubman’s 67 off 49 balls was filled with beautiful strokes. The video of his six off Kagiso Rabada is still going viral. Shubman oozed class as he stroked another fine half-century in the T20 League to intensify the race for Orance Cap. On that front, he is currently at No 5 with 183 runs from 4 matches.
Australian legend Matthew Hayden, who played the same role of an opening batter for Australia and Chennai Super Kings, is mighty impressed with Shubman’s performances in this season so far. Praising him over his knock vs PBKS on Thursday night, Hayden said that GT needed someone to step up in the run chase and Shubman ensured he raised his hand up.
WHAT. A. SHOT! _ _@ShubmanGill hits a maximum to edge @gujarat_titans closer to the target _
Follow the match __ https://t.co/RkqkycoCcd #TATAIPL | #PBKSvGT pic.twitter.com/PBLfnkMjYi
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 13, 2023
“Gujarat Titans needed someone to take responsibility and bat deep in this run chase against a quality Punjab Kings bowling attack, and Shubman Gill did just that. Some of the shots that he played were pleasing to the eyes. He’s such a class player and he’s going to dominate world cricket for the next decade or so,” Hayden told Star Sports.
GT’s last-over finish vs PBKS
Despite the Gill brilliance, GT got a late scare. The last two overs of the chase were tricky for GT as Punjab bowlers Arshdeep Singh and Sam Curran bowled brilliantly. Arshdeep just gave 6 off the pentultimate over while Curran dismissed Gill on the second ball of the last over to bring the equation down to 4 off 2 balls. It took an ‘Icy Cool’ Rahul Tewatia to finish things off. Street-smart Tewatia played a scoop from off stump to beat the short fine leg fielder and collected the winning runs.
GT on third spot in point table
Titans’ win over Kings took them to third spot in the IPL 2023 standings. Punjab Kings have slipped to the sixth spot. The Shikhar Dhawan-led side has now tasted defeat in two back-to-back games after starting the tournament with a bang. GT captain Hardik Pandya was impressed with the way his side fought back after a heartbreaking loss to Kolkata Knight Riders, a few days ago. However, Hardik was fined Rs 12 lakh for slow over rate in the game. Earlier, Faf du Plessis and Sanju Samson had also been fined the same amount for the same offence.
