Punjab Kings (PBKS) hosted Gujarat Titans (GT) on Thursday, April 4, at Ahmedabad’s renowned Narendra Modi Stadium. The two teams had different approaches to the game from the start. At home, GT defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad, while PBKS suffered their second loss of the year against the Lucknow Supergiants.
Shikhar Dhawan, the captain of the visiting team, won the toss and elected to bowl first. Sikandar Raza replaced the injured Liam Livingstone. Shubman Gill’s team started Kane Williamson in place of David Miller in the starting XI because of David Miller’s fitness concerns.
50 runs in 5.4 overs for the Gujarat Titans
Gujarat’s innings got off to an ideal start thanks to openers Wriddhiman Saha and Gill. Then, before Kane Williamson got there, Kagiso Rabada took the senior of the two. In the final over of the powerplay, the fifty was achieved with a stunning boundary off Sam Curran.
First Powerplay: Overs 0.1 to 6 (Required: -52/1)
To start things rolling, skipper Shubman Gill struck two clean fours and a six. Due to his inability to generate any batsmanship, Wriddhiman Saha was dismissed after 13 balls and 11 runs.
The first strategic timeout is Gujarat Titans 65/1 (8 Overs).
GT witnessed PBKS bowlers regain control of the situation after they had a strong batting innings to begin. Before the first timeout, Williamson and Gill were cautious.
100 runs in 11.4 overs for Gujarat Titans
After several overs of silence, Sai Sudharsan, who entered at 4, stretched out and struck boundaries. The 100-run mark for the Titans was one such threshold.
Also read: Why aren’t David Miller and Liam Livingstone participating in GT vs. PBKS, IPL 2024 Match 17?
Second Strategic Timeout: Gujarat Titans 123/3 (14 overs)
The southpaw played a few clean strokes before Jitesh Sharma caught him off Harshal Patel and he was out for 33. In an unexpected move, this got Vijay Shankar to the wicket.
Shubman Gill scored a half-century off of 31 balls.
As the Gujarat Titans hit Harpreet Brar for a four to mark his half-century, there was a thunderous roar. In the history of the prestigious competition, this was Gill’s 19th spectacular career century and his maiden fifty of the IPL 2024.
150 runs in 16.4 overs for Gujarat Titans
Shubman Gill started to time the ball to all areas of the pitch, and the home crowd at last raised a cheer. With a six off Patel’s fourth delivery in the seventeenth over, the home team passed the 150-run barrier.
Gujarat Titans: 199/4 (20 overs) at the end of the innings
Rahul Tewatia emerged and gave the Gujarat Titans a much-needed boost with his bat. Against Punjab, the captain of Gill’s team scored a nice amount thanks to his knock.