Punjab managed to beat the in-form Gujarat in a relatively one-sided affair. Their eight-wicket win over the Hardik Pandya-led comes as a huge confidence booster for the 2014-finalists. Besides, every game is crucial for them as the race to the playoffs is getting more and more intense with every passing game.
Punjab’s encounter with Gujarat saw some brilliant individual performances. First things first, Kagiso Rabada picked a superb four-fer during the first innings, after which, Shikhar Dhawan scored a wonderful half-century in the second innings. However, It was Liam Livingstone’s mammoth sixes that took everyone by surprise.
The English all-rounder was in a hurry to finish the game as he hit 28 runs in the 16th over of the second innings. Mohammed Shami was at the receiving end of his wrath. As a matter of fact, he also smashed a humongous 117m six in the over. During the first delivery of the over, Livingstone showcased his muscle power as he effortlessly swung his bat hard and hit the ball towards deep square leg.
Thus, it went sailing into the crowd. The commentators were awestruck and speechless as well. After this, he struck some lusty blows to finish the game in the same over. Livingstone ended up scoring an unbeaten 30 from just 10 balls. After the completion of the game, he spoke about how he wanted to bat ahead of his skipper Mayank Agarwal. He also praised Dhawan for his innings.
117 M six by Liam Livingstone @liaml4893
#PBKSvGT#liamlivingstone#liam#pbks pic.twitter.com/andTDbVTZ2— M Mahesh (@MMahesh72686076) May 4, 2022
“Swinging hard enough. I didn’t think I was going to bat at one point, nice to go out and hit a few out the middle. I thought Shikhar played beautifully to set it up, and Bhanu with that partnership. It was a big win for us and we needed it, we have played some bad cricket in the last couple of games and it is nice to turn it around.
I went up to Mayank and said I fancy going in before you and he said you go in if Bhanu gets out and I go in if Shikhar gets out. We know our roles and also if Mayank is there we have more stability. It is all about learning, it is hard to go in and play the way we wanted to as a new team. We played a bit smarter today and you have to play like that on such pitches,” said Liam Livingstone.
