‘Aj pata chala Gujarat bhi match harti hain’: Twitter lauds Punjab’s emphatic win over Gujarat

Gujarat faced Punjab in the 48th match of the Indian T20 League 2022 at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. The match turned out to be a rather one-sided affair as one side dominated the other in all the departments of the game.

Gujarat won the toss and Hardik Pandya decided to bat first. Shubman Gill did not trouble the scorers much as he fell in the third over of the Gujarat innings scoring just 9 runs off 6 balls. Wriddhiman Saha (21 off 17) was the second wicket to fall for the team in the over of the innings. They managed to score 42 runs losing both their openers in the powerplays. The skipper Hardik Pandya was the next man to walk back to the pavilion in the seventh over. He managed to score just 1 run from the 7 deliveries he faced. Wickets kept falling in regular intervals after this. But the young batter Sai Sudharsan looked determined at one end. While there was no other significant contribution from any other batter, Sudarshan scored 65 runs from 50 deliveries. He hit five fours and one six during his stay.

On the back of Sudarshan’s knock, Gujarat was able to post a total of 143 runs in their 20 overs. Even though the pitch assisted the bowlers, the total looked below par. Kagiso Rabada showed his pedigree as he picked up four wickets for 33 runs from his four overs. Arshdeep Singh, Rishi Dhawan, and Liam Livingstone picked up one wicket each for Punjab.

Punjab in their pursuit of a moderate total was rocked early by the wicket of Jonny Bairstow (1 off 6) in the third over of the innings. As the wicket fell Bhanuka Rajapaksa joined Shikhar Dhawan in the middle. The duo stitched a partnership of 87 runs off 58 balls and also provided momentum to the progress. Lockie Ferguson picked up the wicket of Rajapaksa in the 12th over of the innings. While he walked back to the pavilion after scoring 40 runs off 28 balls, Shikhar Dhawan looked in brilliant touch at the other end. Liam Livingstone joined Dhawan in the middle and the duo continued with the progress rather comfortably.

After the end of the 15th over Punjab was 117 for the loss of only two wickets. They required 27 runs off 30 balls at 5.4 runs per over rate. While it is often said that a cricket match is not over till the last ball is bowled, the result of this was evident with five overs remaining in it. Liam Livingstone brought up the evident victory quicker than expected. He slammed three sixes and two fours in the 16th over of Mohammed Shami and picked up 28 runs of the over. Punjab won the match by eight wickets with 24 balls remaining in the match. Shikhar Dhawan stayed unbeaten at 62 off 53 while Livingstone scored 30 off just 10 balls. This was Punjab’s fifth victory in the tournament in ten matches, while Gujarat lost their second in 10 matches.

This is how Twitter reacted to the match.

https://twitter.com/Cricketracker/status/1521523347674189825?s=20&t=r_QNXThiLUOGNn1jcNx-Fw

https://twitter.com/Cricketracker/status/1521523076785004544?s=20&t=r_QNXThiLUOGNn1jcNx-Fw

Innings Break!

Excellent bowling by #PBKS as they restrict #GujaratTitans to a total of 143/8 on the board.

Scorecard – https://t.co/LcfJL3mlUQ #GTvPBKS #TATAIPL pic.twitter.com/8xyTfsftux

— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 3, 2022

https://twitter.com/IrfanPathan/status/1521544681385267201?s=20&t=r_QNXThiLUOGNn1jcNx-Fw

https://twitter.com/_im_jay__/status/1521544494520229888?s=20&t=TBWf69La5jyPdhkSRUblMw

https://twitter.com/Abhijai74527667/status/1521544481102651392?s=20&t=6Wt7ffhnlKluX-S3ny4Diw

Liam Livingstone finishes with 6,6,6,4,2,4. What a knock, he smashed a 117M six as well.#IPL2022 #IPL #GTvsPBKS #PBKSvsGT #LiamLivingstone

— Bibekananda Sahu (@IamBibeka) May 3, 2022

https://twitter.com/gujarat_titans/status/1521544725878407169?s=20&t=r_QNXThiLUOGNn1jcNx-Fw

https://twitter.com/Sportskeeda/status/1521545070054313984?s=20&t=r_QNXThiLUOGNn1jcNx-Fw

https://twitter.com/ESPNcricinfo/status/1521545397604597760?s=20&t=r_QNXThiLUOGNn1jcNx-Fw

https://twitter.com/WasimJaffer14/status/1521544751228485632?s=20&t=r_QNXThiLUOGNn1jcNx-Fw

Opening with Bairstow is a good move and will give returns in the long run. Also good of PBKS to stick with Bhanuka @ 3. This looks a good combination. And I'm sure Mayank won't mind demoting himself as long as they win. #GTvPBKS #IPL2022

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) May 3, 2022

https://twitter.com/ReemaMalhotra8/status/1521544642722172928?s=20&t=r_QNXThiLUOGNn1jcNx-Fw

https://twitter.com/imritvik/status/1521544285685911558?s=20&t=r_QNXThiLUOGNn1jcNx-Fw

https://twitter.com/adel18__/status/1521541063013388288?s=20&t=jhv6ExiPOB_ygoyGHoDZmw