Mohit swings it for Gujarat in comeback game

Gujarat Titans brought their campaign in the Indian Premier League 2023 season with a six wicket win over Punjab Kings at the IS Bindra Stadium in Mohali on Thursday.

Asked to bat, Punjab posted 153 for eight in their 20 overs and in response Gujarat chased down the target in 19.5 overs to finish on 154 for four.

Earlier, Punjab got off to a poor start as they were at 28 for two. Then Matthew Short teamed up with Bhanuka Rajapaksa to put the innings back on track. Then Rajapaksa added 37 runs for the fourth wicket with Jitesh Sharma. Then there were useful knocks by Sam Curran and Shahrukh Khan which helped Punjab swell the score to an extent. Towards the end Punjab finished on 153 for eight in their 20 overs. For Gujarat the best bowler was Mohit Sharma (2-18).

In their response Gujarat started off well with their openers Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill added 48. Then Gill put on 41 runs for the second wicket with Sai Sudharsan. Gill carried on the efforts, but was dismissed for 67 off 49 balls with seven boundaries and a six. In the end Gujarat chased down the target in 19.5 overs to finish on 154 for four. 

Match Summary

Punjab Kings: 153-8 (20)
Fall of wickets: 1-0 (Prabhsimran Singh-0.2 ov), 2-28 (Shikhar Dhawan-3.2 ov), 3-55 (Matthew Short-6.4 ov), 4-92 (Jitesh Sharma-12.2 ov), 5-115 (Bhanuka Rajapaksa-16.5 ov), 6-136 (Sam Curran-18.1 ov), 7-152 (M Shahrukh Khan-19.4 ov), 8-153 (Rishi Dhawan-19.6 ov)

Gujarat Titans: 154-4 (19.5)
Fall of wickets: 1-48 (Wriddhiman Saha-4.4 ov), 2-89 (Sai Sudharsan-11.2 ov), 3-106 (Hardik Pandya-14.2 ov), 4-148 (Shubman Gill-19.2 ov)

Playing XIs

Punjab Kings: Shikhar Dhawan (captain), Prabhsimran Singh, Matthew Short, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Sam Curran, Jitesh Sharma (wicket-keeper), Shahrukh Khan, Harpreet Brar, Kagiso Rabada, Arshdeep Singh, Rishi Dhawan; Subs: Sikandar Raza, Harpreet Bhatia, Rahul Chahar, Atharva Taide, Gurnoor Brar

Impact player: Rahul Chahar for Bhanuka Rajapaksa (1st innings, 19.7 ov)

Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha (wicket-keeper), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya (captain), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, Mohammed Shami, Josh Little, Mohit Sharma; Subs: Vijay Shankar, Shivam Mavi, Jayant Yadav, Abhinav Manohar, Srikar Bharat

Match Details

Toss: Gujarat Titans, elected to field
Venue: PCA IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali
Start time: 1400 hrs GMT
Match officials: Akshay Totre, Jayaraman Madanagopal (On-field Umpires); Bruce Oxenford (TV Umpire); Pranav Joshi (Reserve Umpire); Rajiv Seth (Match-referee)