Punjab and Gujarat locked horns in the 48th game of the ongoing Indian T20 League 2022 at the D.Y. Patil Stadium in Mumbai. For the first time in the tournament, a team decided to bat first in a night game. However, the Hardik Pandya-led side didn’t really get to an ideal start.
Shubman Gill (9) was run out by Rishi Dhawan in the third over of the innings with the scorecard reading 17/1. Wriddhiman Saha (21), who was playing fluently, was caught at mid-off by opposition skipper Mayank Agarwal. It was Kagiso Rabada who got the better of him. In the seventh over, the team dealt with a big blow as their skipper Hardik Pandya (1) was caught behind by Jitesh Sharma.
David Miller (11) couldn’t carry his form as he struggled during his 14-ball stay. He was caught at long-off by Rabada off Liam Livingstone’s bowling. Another in-form player, Rahul Tewatia (11), couldn’t provide the finishing touch as he was dismissed in the 17th over of the innings. On the next ball, Rashid Khan (0) bagged a golden duck, and with that, Gujarat’s hopes of posting a competitive total vanished.
The Indian T20 League debutants posted a meagre total of 143/8 with Rabada taking four wickets while Arshdeep Singh, Dhawan, and Livingstone took one each. In reply, the Men In Red and Gold had a poor start as their decision to send Jonny Bairstow at the top of the innings didn’t really work out well for them. The Englishman could score only one run in six balls before he was caught at deep fine leg by Pradeep Sangwan.
However, the dismissal didn’t deter the confidence of the team. Bhanuka Rajapaksa, who came in after the fall of the first wicket, scored 40 off 28 balls including five fours and a six. However, he was then trapped lbw by Lockie Ferguson in the 12th over. At this stage, the scorecard read 97/2 in 12 overs. Liam Livingstone came in and scored an unbeaten 30 off 10 to finish the game with four overs to spare. On the other hand, Shikhar Dhawan stayed unbeaten on 62 off 53.
This is how Twitter reacted
Bowled to the perfection first up & finished the game in a hurry to get a jump on run rate 👠#PunjabKings
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 3, 2022
A fighting fifty from Shikhar Dhawan ✅
An entertaining cameo from Liam Livingstone ✅PBKS thrashed GT to register their fifth win of IPL 2022 🔥💥#ShikharDhawan #LiamLivingstone #PBKS #GTvsPBKS #IPL2022 #Cricket pic.twitter.com/n8ZTh1ZrH7
— Wisden India (@WisdenIndia) May 3, 2022
Most unbeaten fifty plus score in ipl by an indian Most Unbeaten 50+ Scores in IPL (21 times)
Most 50+ Scores in successful run-chases (20 times )@SDhawan25 ðŸ˜ðŸ”¥#gtvspbks#IPL2022
— A cricket fan who loves blasters and united (@mathewsrenny4) May 3, 2022
Brother @SDhawan25 top form 👌👌 👌 and those sixes by @liaml4893!! Congratulations @PunjabKingsIPL! #IPL2022 #GTvsPBKS
— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) May 3, 2022
What a monster by #liamlivingstone …. #GTvsPBKS#IPL2022 117 m long… Where is ball? pic.twitter.com/NySNOsejvY
— Ankush Kumar (@AnkushK99528844) May 3, 2022
Fantastic run chase and splendid all-round performance by @PunjabKingsIPL tonight against #GujaratTitans . Great win boys!#SaddaPunjab #IPL2022 #PunjabKings #saddasquad #GTvPBKS pic.twitter.com/mRgogL2EJ1
— Mohit Burman (@imohitburman) May 3, 2022
One Bad Decision And You Lost The Match…GT Wins All Matches While Chase…Very Disappointed With Your Decision @hardikpandya7 @gujarat_titans Hope Next Time You Don’t Chose Bat First ðŸ™#GTvsPBKS #AavaDe
— Jay (@_im_jay__) May 3, 2022
आज पता चला गà¥à¤œà¤°à¤¾à¤¤ à¤à¥€ मैच हारती है#GTvsPBKS #PBKSvsGT #livingstone
— Abhi jain ðŸ¹ðŸ’‰ðŸ’‰ðŸ‡®ðŸ‡³ (@Abhijai74527667) May 3, 2022
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
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
