Punjab Kings, powered by Shashank Singh‘s knockout blows, recorded a thrilling final-over victory over Gujarat Titans which gave them their second win of IPL 2024. Shashank Singh hit 10 of the 29 balls he faced to the boundary. He survived a very close lbw shout off Noor Ahmad when he was 1 off 2, but was soon carting around a bunch of former IPL champions.
Shashank Singh had Rashid Khan, launched over midwicket, Umesh Yadav, helped over fine leg, Noor Ahmad, skewered over long-off, Mohit Sharma, even when he tried to go pace off and into the wicket, ramped over the keeper. These were unbelievable shots because they came from a place where victory was only fantasy.
Pitch and Toss
“We are the centre pitch. 63m square boundaries, 70m straight hit,” reveals WV Raman. Simon Katich is then called in to talk about the surface. “We are on Pitch No. 6. We were here 4 times last season and in those 4 matches three of them were won by the chasing team. So I expect that to come into play tonight at the toss. This pitch has black and red soil, a mixture of both. It’s rock hard and has 3mm of grass on it so I expect to have good pace and bounce so I expect plenty of runs tonight. GT have won 8 out of 12 games here,” opines Katich.
Punjab Kings skipper Shikhar Dhawan won the toss and chose to bowl first . Injured Liam Livingstone was replaced by Sikandar Raza. Gujarat Titans under Shubman Gill made one change bringing in Kane Williamson for injured David Miller.
Top-heavy Titans in the powerplay.
Six. The total number of boundary attempts made by Wriddhiman Saha and Kane Williamson from a combined 35 balls faced. Titans were a top-heavy line-up with David Miller out injured. That automatically puts pressure on their best batter and Shubman Gill could have cracked if not for the man coming out at No. 4 and flaying at everything that came his way. Sai Sudarshan looked for a boundary off 12 of the 19 balls he faced. He outscored Gill – 33 off 19 vs 20 off 13 – in a 53-run partnership that reset the game.
Shubman Gill finally comes good and shows his class.
Shubman Gill was there right through the innings but not quite so imposing. He batted all 20 overs but faced only 48 balls in all. But it was studded with some eye-catching shots nevertheless. The first six down the ground off the left-arm spinner was as silken as lofts down the ground come. Then there was an intentional outside edge that was chopped fine using Arshdeep Singh’s angle across.
He would also loft Kagiso Rabada straight down the ground for a six once and then pull him over long on for one more, there was also a forehand slap down the ground for a four off a slower ball for another boundary. All of these were indicative that the pitch did not hold much demons but also that Gill could unleash a good range of strokes enroute to his 89* – the highest individual score of IPL 2024.
Gujarat batters complement Shubman Gill as Gujarat rakes up 199 for 4
All through his innings, Gill found the others doing commendable jobs at the other end. While Wriddhiman Saha and Kane Williamson (playing his first game of IPL 2024 replacing the injured David Miller) didn’t last too long, they were around long enough to stitch together stands worth 29 and 40. Sai Sudarshan, playing with more intent this time, matched Gill shot-for-shot at one point in his 19-ball 33 with six boundaries. But his cameo came to an end as he guided Harshal Patel to the wicket-keeper.
Gujarat headed into the death overs in dire need of a boost and Rahul Tewatia provided the right finishing touches, albeit feasting on some friendly full tosses that enabled him to an 8-ball 23. And even as Gill missed his hundred, falling short by 11, his team had got to nearly 200, which would prove to be a lot more than just challenging for Punjab Kings.
Gill made 89 off 48 batting well within himself. Even the most jaw-dropping shot of his innings was a simple consequence of seeing a length ball and knowing he can get under it. Kagiso Rabada, who is IPL royalty thanks to his strike rate of 14.8, the best out of everyone who has at least 100 wickets in this tournament, was launched straight down the ground for an effortless six.
Gill thrived just by responding to what was coming down because nine times out of 10, he had the perfect one. He was in the zone, striking at 185.42 and combining it with a control percentage of 91.67. That is rare. Typically when you’re looking to go big, you end up with a few more mis-hits. It must feel like pretty small consolation, though, on a night where he watched his team lose from a winning position.
Noor Ahmed turns it around as Punjab loose its way in the chase.
Despite losing Shikhar Dhawan early after he chopped on against Umesh Yadav’s first ball, Punjab were still in the chase thanks to Jonny Bairstow’s early flurry of boundaries. The opener got going as he pinged the cover boundary repeatedly with Azmatullah Omarzai offering some width.
He had some support from an adventurous Prabhsimran Singh but that changed around swiftly. Noor Ahmed struck with his first ball bowling Bairstow through the gate and had Singh caught at point off an outside edge to rattle Punjab, who then found enough firepower in their lower middle-order to steal a sensational win.
It is still early – only four matches – but Rashid Khan has an economy rate of 9.06, his worst in an IPL season. In this game, he was lined up twice by Jitesh Sharma, leaking back-to-back sixes in the 16th over. He has already been hit out of the park nine times in IPL 2024. That’s as many sixes as he’d given up across 14 matches in 2021 and 16 matches in 2020.
Titans are turning to him a little more often now because they don’t have Mohammed Shami in the powerplay and the death and it seems like he is yet to cope with that extra responsibility. The Kings were in a squeeze at 70 for 4 in the ninth over and then 111 for 5 in the 13th over. Liam Livingstone was injured. Shikhar Dhawan, Jonny Bairstow and Sam Curran were out. Only Jitesh and some unknowns were left. This match should’ve been done but it wasn’t.
Shashank Singh makes it an unforgettable finish
He might not have been the Shashank Singh that Punjab Kings were searching for in the auction, but over the course of this season and particularly today, he has made himself an undroppable name in the eleven. Shashank Singh came in when the Kings had lost four for just 70 in the ninth over but remained unfazed right through to inject some much-needed impetus.
Shashank Singh lofted Noor Ahmed’s googly for a six and then picked 14 off three deliveries from Umesh Yadav to get his innings going. Another six off Rashid and a ramp off Mohit Sharma kept Punjab in the chase. In between the Kings were lucky to have some support from others like Jitesh Sharma who hit back-to-back sixes off Rashid at a critical juncture.
A match-winning partnership of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma sets up massive chase for Punjab Kings.
The final trick up Punjab Kings’ sleeves was the impact sub Ashutosh Sharma, who matched Shashank Singh in shot making including three boundaries off an over from Azmatullah Omarzai. The duo also picked up 18 off the penultimate over bowled by Mohit with each batter hitting him for a six with brute power.
The equation trickled down to 7 off the last over, which was given to Darshan Nalkande who hadn’t bowled an over until then. While he dismissed Sharma caught at long on, the luck was with Singh who got an outside edged boundary before sneaking a leg-bye off the penultimate ball.
It brought about a thrilling conclusion to a game that had otherwise meandered along on a straight course with the Titans the favorites right through until the Kings sneaked back in.
Kings only had two batters among their five substitutes in a bowling first XI. It looked a lopsided selection. But the man they chose as the Impact Sub played a massive role in their victory. Ashutosh Sharma, playing his very first IPL game, and only the 15th T20 of his career, looked at an equation that read 41 off 18 balls square in the eye and took it down with brutal precision.
He hit three fours in Azmatullah Omarzai’s 18th over. Another six to start the 19th from Mohit. In those 12 balls, the Kings got 34 runs. In those 12 balls, the Kings’ chances of victory rose from 9.23% to 94.56%.
This is what happens when two players look for the best boundary option they have with every single ball. But the fact that they were both uncapped, that they had very little experience at this level of the game – Shashank Singh had played 13 matches in the IPL, but batted in just eight of those and had a high score of 25 prior to this – and were coming up with the goods even against bowlers of the calibre of the Titans was incredible.
They waited for Mohit and Azmatullah’s variations – whether they were slower balls or short balls – and it wasn’t just that they were looking to slog ’em across the line. Shashank Singh (previously) and Ashutosh (in the death) ramped fours over the keeper. It was nerveless. It was glorious. And by the end of it, Kings had conquered their sixth target of 200 or more, a men’s T20 record.
Presentations and Road Ahead.
Shubman Gill the loosing skipper said : I think a couple of catches went down, never easy (to win) when you drop catches. Bowlers did a decent job, when the ball is coming on to the bat, it’s difficult to defend, I wouldn’t say we were short (on runs). The new ball was doing something. 200 was good enough.
We were right in the game till about the 15th over. always under pressure with dropped catches. With the way he’s (Nalkande) bowled in the last match and with 7 runs to go, it was a no brainer for us. People who you haven’t seen will come and play knocks like these and that’s the beauty of IPL.
Shikhar Dhawan the winning skipper said : It was an amazing game, very very close, I’m glad the boys did the job. The plan was to give a good start but I got out unfortunately but we were around 60 runs at the end of the powerplay, we kept building partnerships and Shashank came in and played really well.
The way Shashank came in and hit those sixes, it was brilliant, the way he hit the ball, it looked effortless. He started from No. 7 and is now showing his positive mindset. He is playing in the IPL after a long time and he played so well. I will also mention about Ashutosh, he came in and played a good knock under pressure.
Shashank Singh Player of the Match for his blistering innings said : Still trying to sink in, I vision these things but turning it into reality feels great. I play cricketing shots, I bat at No. 7 but today I batted at No. 5. The bounce was very good, 200 scored by both teams so the wicket was fantastic.
They are the legends of cricket, I don’t see the names, I react to the ball and play my shots accordingly. Couldn’t get much matches before, last to last year for SRH but the management, the coaching staff here has really backed me and I was very confident.
A knock to remember for ages for Shashank Singh! He was quite an unknown element and he has stolen the limelight tonight. Superb temperament under pressure and nerves of steel from him! GT posted quite a competitive score on a good batting surface. Gill was the star for them as he scored an unbeaten 89 and was well-supported by breezy cameos from Sudarshan and Tewatia. With the kind of bowling lineup GT possesses, they would have backed themselves to defend this one.
Dhawan was removed early by Umesh but quickfire knocks cameos from Bairstow and Prabhsimran kept the required run-rate in check. But, a brilliant spell from Noor changed the course of the game as he struck in quick succession to send both of them packing. Curran couldn’t make an impact as he fell early.
Raza struggled for rhythm and holed out in the deep. Shashank kept going from the other end though and played some brilliant strokes to keep his side in the chase. Jitesh scored a couple of back-to-back maximums off Rashid but holed out to a full-toss just after that. The impact player, Ashutosh Sharma, came in and made a real impact.
He scored a 17-ball 31 and played the perfect foil to Shashank. Got to feel for Mohit as he had only conceded 22 off his first 3 overs but was hit for 18 runs in the penultimate over. 7 was needed off the final over and Gill surprisingly turned to Nalkande although Umesh had an over left. He dismissed Ashutosh off his first delivery though but he didn’t have many runs to play with. Shashank kept his calm and took his side over the line with a ball to spare.
It was less than four months ago that the Kings’ management was huddled around the auction table trying to offload this guy, then sending out a clarification tweet, which Shashank replied to, hoping to shut down the stories that were swirling around. Tonight, in a twist that the IPL should consider trademarking, both the unfancied team and their unfancied purchase came good facing impossible odds in a chase of 200.
Punjab Kings will head home to Mohali where they will take on the in-form Sunrisers Hyderabad on April 9. Gujarat have a two-day gap where they’ll travel to take on Lucknow Super Giants on April 7.