After a heart-breaking defeat against Kolkata Knight Riders in a last-ball finish, Gujarat Titans registered a 6-wicket win over Punjab Kings at the PCA IS Bindra International Stadium on Thursday. Gujarat, who were strengthened by the inclusion of their regular captain Hardik Pandya, first kept the Punjab down to 153/8 in their 20 overs before chasing down the total with in the last over.
Mohit Sharma, who was making his IPL comeback, was the pick of the bowlers for the Titans as he finished with figures of 2 for 18. In response, Gujarat got off to a great start with the help of Wriddhiman Saha (30 off 19) and Shubman Gill (67 off 49) and while Saha departed after a brisk start, Gill continued and made sure he came back only after the team had crossed the finish line.
This was the second time in a row that PBKS batting flopped. While last time around Shikhar Dhawan was pretty much the lone warrior, scoring 99, this time around when the skipper departed cheaply, the middle-order batters failed to score at a brisk rate with Bhanuka Rajapaksa scoring 20 off 26 deliveries. Matthew Short top-scored for the team with 36 off 24 balls. In the end, it was Shahrukh Khan's 9-ball 22 that allowed Punjab to get past 150 but as it turned it wasn't enough on what was a good batting surface in Mohali.
In the end though it all became a bit tensed, a bit more than GT would have liked as Titans allowed the match to go into the final over where Curran got the better of a set Gill to set things up for a thrilling finish. However, in the end with four needed off two balls, Rahul Tewatia scored a boundary to seal the game for the inuguaral champions.
For Punjab, Harpreet Brar was the best bowler as he finished with figures of 1 for 20.