Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to bat first on a two-paced pitch. This proved vital and Gujarat Titans batters struggled to get going. Apart from Sai Sudarshan none of the batsmen applied themselves. As a result, GT could only post an under-par 143 runs. Kagiso Rabada was the pick of the bowlers with 4 wickets and every bowler chipped in with contributions.
Punjab Kings promoted Bairstow to the opening slot and Mayank demoted himself to the fourth position. That didn’t yield the results though. However, Shikhar Dhawan and Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s partnership turned match-winning. While Bhanuka scored 40 in just 28 balls, Dhawan has completed his half-century.
With 27 required from 5 overs, Liam Livingstone wrapped up the innings in just six balls to boost the net run rate. He scored hat-trick sixes from Mohammed Shami’s over and scored winning runs with a four.
