Cricket Highlights, 14 April: IPL 2023 (Match 18) – Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans

Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans (Match 18) – Highlights

In this year’s IPL, almost every match is ending up with a fierce contest. There was such a battle of bat-ball in the match between Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans. The match ended with 1 ball in hand in the very last over. However, the terrible experience of the previous match could not adjoin the defending champions at all. Gujarat Titans defeated Punjab Kings by 6 wickets in this breathtaking match.

Due to illness, Captain Hardik Pandya could not play for Gujarat Titans in the previous match. That’s why Rashid Khan led the team. However, Hardik returned to the lead in this match after overcoming illness. Rashid Khan-Mohit Sharma bowled brilliantly under his leadership on the day.

Batting first, Punjab Kings collected 153 runs for the loss of 8 wickets. In response, Gujarat Titans lost 4 wickets to reach the target of victory. Along with that, the current champions of IPL have reached the third position in the points table with 6 points. On the other hand, Rajasthan Royals and Lucknow Super Giants also have 6 points. However, the Titans are behind them in run rate.

The Titans needed 7 runs in the last over to win. Two established and set batsmen, David Miller and Shubman Gill were on the wicket. As a result, they should’ve reached the port of victory very easily. But Punjab Kings captain Shikhar Dhawan handed the ball to English all-rounder Sam Curran.

Despite conceding 1 run in the first ball, Curran made the match exciting by taking the wicket of Shubman Gill in the second ball, who scored 67 runs. Gill scored 67 runs off 49 balls with 7 boundaries and 1 six. After that, Curran was not allowing David Miller and Rahul Tewatia to take more than single runs.

4 runs were required off the last 2 balls. In that situation, Rahul Tewatia hit a boundary on the 5th ball. With that, the breathtaking match ended 1 ball early. Harpreet Brar, Sam Curran, Arshdeep Singh and Kagiso Rabada got 1 wicket each for the Kings.

Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and sent the Kings to bat at the Dharamshala Cricket Stadium in Mohali. The hosts were in danger from the beginning when they came to bat. Prabhsimran Singh got out before scoring any runs. Captain Shikhar Dhawan departed after scoring 8 runs. No batsman could play any big innings for the Kings.

Matthew Short scored the highest 36 runs off 24 balls for the team. Bhanuka Rajapaksa scored 20 runs off 26 balls. Jitesh Sharma scored 25 runs off 23 balls. Sam Curran played an innings of 22 runs off 22 balls. Shahrukh Khan scored 22 runs off 9 balls for the team. In the end, the Kings collected 153 runs after losing 8 wickets. Punjab batsmen played 56 dot balls in the whole match.

Mohit Sharma took the highest number of 2 wickets with 18 runs in 4 overs. He was adjudged player of the match because of his frugal bowling. Besides, Mohammed Shami, Joshua Little, Alzarri Joseph, and Rashid Khan took 1 wicket each.

The Titans’ batters started well in reply. Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill formed a partnership of 48 runs. Wriddhiman got out after scoring 30 runs off 19 balls. Shubman played till the last over and got out by scoring 67 runs.

Before that, Sai Sudharsan scored 19 runs off 20 balls and Hardik Pandya got out scoring 8 runs off 11 balls. David Miller remained unbeaten with 17 runs from 18 balls. Rahul Tewatia was not out scoring 5 runs off 2 balls.

Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans Scoreboard

Punjab Kings – 153/8 (20.0)

Gujarat Titans – 154/4 (19.5)

Result – Gujarat Titans won by 6 wickets

Player of the match – Mohit Sharma

Punjab Kings

Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans Playing XIs