‘Fantastic and splendid’ – Twitter stunned as Punjab claim emphatic win over Gujarat

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