Gujarat Titans bowler Sai Kishore celebrates after taking a wicket during the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Punjab Kings in Mullanpur on April 21, 2024.
| Photo Credit: R.V. Moorthy

In the battle of shaky top orders, 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-fire Titans batting line-up would have wished for, poor shot selection helped Punjab 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 off Harpreet Brar.

He backed himself and reprised the shot two deliveries later, fetching a boundary on this occasion. That opened the floodgates as 27 runs came off 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 Punjab as Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma stood at the burning deck, with their team floundering at 86 for five.

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 flight 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, Punjab’s top order flattered 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 to the head, leaving their side in early trouble.

Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad and Rashid Khan picked seven wickets between them, transcending seamer-friendly conditions and bamboozling the host in its den.

Scoreboard

PUNJAB KINGS: Sam Curran lbw b Rashid 20 (19b, 2×4), Prabhsimran Singh c Saha b Mohit 35 (21b, 3×4, 3×6), Rilee Rossouw lbw b Noor 9 (7b, 2×4), Jitesh Sharma b Sai Kishore 13 (12b, 1×6), Liam Livingstone c Tewatia b Noor 6 (9b, 1×4), 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, 4×4, 1×6), 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).

GUJARAT 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.

Their campaigns wobbling after a string of defeats, bottom-rung teams Punjab Kings and Gujarat Titans will be desperate to arrest the slide and get back to winning ways in their Indian Premier League match in Mullanpur on April 21.

Former champions Gujarat Titans have slipped to eighth position in the pecking order after an embarrassing loss to Delhi Capitals at home, where they were bowled out for 89 to suffer their third defeat in four matches.

PBKS are struggling in the ninth place following a nine-run loss to Mumbai Indians away on Thursday night, the margin of defeat made respectable by an incredible rearguard act by the in-form young duo of Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh after the team was tottering at 14/4 in a chase of 193.

Five losses and two wins in seven outings hardly inspire confidence and irrespective of the fact that their upcoming opponents are also struggling to get their act right, PBKS will have their task cut out in front of their fans, who had little to cheer about so far this season at the newly-inaugurated home venue.

The absence of their influential skipper Shikhar Dhawan in the last few matches has hit PBKS hard and doubts remain over the southpaw’s availability for Sunday’s fixture.

Dhawan has been undergoing rehabilitation since picking up a shoulder injury during the home fixture against Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9, resulting in England all-rounder Sam Curran to fill in as the skipper.

While Dhawan hasn’t had a great time with the bat in IPL 2024, scoring 152 runs from five innings at a strike rate of 125.61, his presence at the top of the order as well as in the field matters for a side that seems to have forgotten how to win matches.

Having finished eighth in the last edition following eight losses and six victories, the story hasn’t changed for PBKS, whose biggest concern has been the failure of their specialist batters.

The likes of Prabhsimran Singh, Liam Livingstone and Rilee Rossouw have failed to live up to the expectations, something that has affected the team badly.

The only silver lining for PBKS this season has been resolute displays from their unsung Indian players Shashank and Ashutosh, who both bat lower in the order and have had to make up for the shortcomings at the top on more than one occasion, including their heroics that gave MI a massive scare the other night.

PBKS’ opponents GT, who have so far registered three wins while suffering four defeats, will need to pull up their socks after the horror show with the bat against Delhi Capitals.

With quality players such as skipper Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, David Miller and Rashid Khan in their ranks, complemented by a handy support cast comprising people like Rahul Tewatia, Mohit Sharma, Wriddhiman Saha and Noor Ahmad, GT would hope the show against DC was a mere blip.

As far as bowling is concerned, the absence of Mohammad Shami has hurt them badly while Umesh Yadav has leaked plenty of runs though he has also taken seven wickets.

Star spinner Rashid has been doing as well as he could in his primary role and is also chipping in with more than handy contributions with the bat.

Teams (from):

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Matthew Wade, Kane Williamson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Abhinav Manohar, Rashid Khan, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Spencer Johnson, Kartik Tyagi, Joshua Little, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohit Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Sushant Mishra, Sandeep Warrier, Sharath BR, Manav Suthar.

Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (c), Matthew Short, Prabhsimran Singh, Jitesh Sharma, Sikandar Raza, Rishi Dhawan, Liam Livingstone, Atharva Taide, Arshdeep Singh, Nathan Ellis, Sam Curran, Kagiso Rabada, Harpreet Brar, Rahul Chahar, Harpreet Bhatia, Vidwath Kaverappa, Shivam Singh, Harshal Patel, Chris Woakes, Ashutosh Sharma, Vishwanath Pratap Singh, Shashank Singh, Tanay Thyagarajan, Prince Choudhary, Rilee Rossouw.

Match starts at 7.30 PM.

Gujrat Titans will be striving for much needed consistency when they meet Delhi Capitals in an Indian Premier League match in Ahmedabad on April 17.
| Photo Credit: Shiv Kumar Pushpakar

Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals will look to stabilise their undulating fortunes when they meet at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Wednesday.

Both sides snapped out of successive defeats with a victory in their previous encounter, but neither outfit has won back-to-back matches this season.

GT’s three-wicket triumph over the high-flying Rajasthan Royals was made possible by a stunning assault by its lower middle-order, comprising Rahul Tewatia, M. Shahrukh Khan and Rashid Khan, that helped chase down 196.

But it is the top- and middle-order combinations that have proved a headache. Injuries to David Miller (three games out), Wriddhiman Saha (two) and Azmatullah Omarzai (two) opened opportunities for Kane Williamson, Matthew Wade, B.R. Sharath, and Abhinav Manohar. No one hasso far lapped it up.

DC’s six-wicket victory over Lucknow Super Giants, that lifted the side out of last position, was fashioned by wrist-spinner Kuldeep Yadav and debutant Aussie batter Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Kuldeep, after missing three games because of a groin injury, made a sensational return (4-0-20-3) while Fraser-McGurk, in for the injured Mitchell Marsh, smashed a 35-ball 55 in a 168-run pursuit.

VersusLSG, DC also unleashed an all-Indian bowling attack and the former’s total (167) was the lowest in the four contestsDC has bowled first. Rishabh Pant’s consistent and brisk run-making, even as he juggles the twin burdens of captaincy and wicket-keeping, also augurs well.

DC will however be sweating over the fitness of David Warner. He was hit on the left hand against LSG, and though head coach Ricky Ponting said the scans were satisfactory, his availability will be known only on match-day.

The Teams (From):

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha, Sai Sudharsan, Shahrukh Khan, Matthew Wade, Kane Williamson, Azmatullah Omarzai, Abhinav Manohar, Rashid Khan, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Spencer Johnson, Kartik Tyagi, Joshua Little, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Mohit Sharma, Jayant Yadav, Umesh Yadav, Sushant Mishra, Sandeep Warrier, Sharath BR, Manav Suthar.

Delhi Capitals: Rishabh Pant (c), David Warner, Abishek Porel, Ricky Bhui, Yash Dhull, Shai Hope, Prithvi Shaw, Tristan Stubbs, Kumar Kushagra, Swastik Chikara, Ishant Sharma, Jhye Richardson, Rasikh Dar Salam, Vicky Ostwal, Anrich Nortje, Mukesh Kumar, Kuldeep Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Khaleel Ahmed, Sumit Kumar, Axar Patel, Mitchell Marsh, Lalit Yadav, Jake Fraser-McGurk.

Match starts 7.30pm IST.