After the Sai Kishore show, Tewatia takes Titans home
Sai Kishore’s four-wicket haul and Tewatia’s knock turned things in Titans’ favour.
In the battle of shaky toporders, Rahul Tewatia's rearguard action took Gujarat Titans over the line by three wickets against Punjab Kings at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium here on Sunday.
Though a 143-run target was just what the under re Titans batting line-up would have wished for, poor shot selection helped Kings claw back and give the Shubman Gill-led side a scare.
At the 16-over mark, the visitor still needed 38 runs to win with the last recognised
batting pair, Tewatia and Shahrukh Khan, at the crease.
The former survived a close lbw shout in the following over, attempting a perilous reverse-sweep o Harpreet Brar.
He backed himself and reprised the shot two deliveries later, fetching a boundary on this occasion.
That opened the oodgates as 27 runs came o the next nine balls, with Kagiso Rabada's over, 18th of the innings, going for 20 runs.
Though Harshal Patel gave the crowd some cheer with two wickets in the 19th over with a yorker and a full toss, it wasn't enough
for Punjab to avoid its fourth consecutive defeat at home.
Earlier, it was a familiar script for Kings as Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma stood at the burning deck, with their team oundering at 86 for ve.
Unfortunately for the host, there was no redemption this time as both batters were back in the dugout in a span of three overs, deceived in ight by left-arm spinner R. Sai Kishore.
With the innings tottering at 99 for seven, it fell upon Impact Player Harpreet Singh Bhatia and No. 9 Harpreet Brar to drag the host to 142.
After electing to bat, Kings’ top-order attered to deceive as Sam Curran and Prabhsimran Singh put on the team’s second 50-run opening partnership of the season but were soon watching the proceedings from the sidelines.
Prabhsimran, Rilee Rossouw, Liam Livingstone and Jitesh Sharma succumbed to a rush of blood in their head, leaving their side in early trouble.
Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad and Rashid Khan claimed seven wickets between them, transcending seamer-friendly conditions and bamboozling the host in its den.
PUNJAB KINGS
Sam Curran lbw b Rashid 20 (19b, 2x4), Prabhsimran Singh c Saha b Mohit 35 (21b, 3x4, 3x6), Rilee Rossouw lbw b Noor 9 (7b, 2x4), Jitesh Sharma b Sai Kishore 13 (12b, 1x6), Liam Livingstone c Tewatia b Noor 6 (9b, 1x4), Shashank Singh c & b Sai Kishore 8 (12b), Ashutosh Sharma c Mohit b Sai Kishore 3 (8b), Harpreet Bhatia (Impact Player in place of Prabhsimran) run out 14 (19b), Harpreet Brar c Shahrukh b Sai Kishore 29 (12b, 4x4, 1x6), Harshal Patel c Shahrukh b Mohit 0 (1b), Kagiso Rabada (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-2): 4; Total (in 20 overs): 142.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-52 (Prabhsimran, 5.3 overs), 2-63 (Rossouw, 6.6), 3-67 (Curran, 7.5), 4-78 (Livingstone, 10.2), 5-86 (Jitesh, 11.4), 6-92 (Ashutosh, 13.5), 7-99 (Shashank, 15.2),
8-139 (Harpreet Brar, 18.6), 9-140 (Harshal, 19.2).
TITANS BOWLING Omarzai 2-0-13-0, Warrier 1-0-21-0, Mohit 4-0-32-2, Rashid 4-0-15-1, Noor 4-0-20-2, Sai Kishore 4-0-33-4, Shahrukh 1-0-7-0.
GUJARAT TITANS Wriddhiman Saha c Ashutosh b Arshdeep 13 (11b, 1x4), Shubman
Gill c Rabada b Livingstone 35 (29b, 5x4), Sai Sudharsan (Impact Player in place of Warrier) b Curran 31 (34b, 3x4), David Miller b Livingstone 4 (6b), Azmatullah Omarzai c Jitesh b Harshal 13 (10b, 1x6), Rahul Tewatia (not out) 36 (18b, 7x4), Shahrukh Khan b Harshal 8 (4b, 1x6), Rashid Khan c Rossouw b Harshal 3 (3b), Sai Kishore (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (lb-2, w-1): 3; Total (for seven wkts. in 19.1 overs): 146.
FALL OF WICKETS
1-25 (Saha, 3.4), 2-66 (Gill, 9.3), 3-77 (Miller, 11.5), 4-97 (Sai Sudharsan, 14.4), 5-103 (Omarzai, 15.2), 6-138 (Shahrukh, 18.1), 7-142 (Rashid, 18.6).
KINGS BOWLING Rabada 4-0-40-0, Arshdeep 2.1-0-17-1, Harshal 3-0-15-3, Curran 2-0-18-1, Harpreet Brar 4-0-35-0, Livingstone 4-0-19-2. Toss: PBKS; PoM: Sai Kishore. Titans won by three wickets with five balls to spare.
After serving up two edgeof-the-seat thrillers in their previous games, Rajasthan Royals and Mumbai Indians clash at the Sawai Mansingh Stadium here on Monday with dierent aspirations.
RR currently sits atop the standings, losing just once in seven matches. The ghtback from a precarious position against Kolkata Knight Riders, thanks to Jos Buttler’s brilliance, will have further boosted the team’s morale.
MI, on the other hand, nds itself in a mid-table scramble, trying to string together a few positive results to aid its playo chances. After a disastrous start, when it lost three successive games, the side won three in its next four.
Though opener Yashasvi Jaiswal has struggled, the middle-order, led by Riyan Parag, has stepped up and ensured that the long tail hasn’t been exposed.
The nervous nine-run win over Punjab Kings exposed chinks in the MI bowling armour and the team might be forced to ring in a few changes.
Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan have provided MI with the perfect platform, but the side will need better support from the middle-order to exact revenge on Royals at their den.