Gujarat Titans skipper Hardik Pandya wasn’t happy with the fact that his batters took the game deep against Punjab Kings at the IS Bindra Stadium, Mohali on Thursday despite their six-wicket win. Four runs were required off the last two balls when Rahul Tewatia played a paddle sweep to hit the boundary and help his team chase down 154 runs.
While chasing 154, the defending champions got off to a decent start as Saha and Shubman Gill were able to score at a brisk pace. GT added 56-1 in the PowerPlay overs but the boundaries dried up a bit in the middle overs.
Shubman Gill scored 67 runs from 49 balls but Sai Sudharsan’s knock of 19 from 20 balls added pressure on GT. Moreover, David Miller could only manage 17 runs from 18 balls as PBKS was able to stay in the contest.
Hardik Pandya was also dismissed for 11-ball 8 as he could not get going. However, Tewatia kept his calm, in the end, to finish off the game.
Earlier, Mohit Sharma, who was returning to the IPL after a long hiatus, was right on the money for GT. The experienced seamer was accurate with his line and length and returned with impressive figures of 2-18 in his quota of four overs.
Furthermore, Rashid Khan once again stemmed the flow of runs in the middle overs as he conceded only 26 runs in his allotted four overs.
Hardik Pandya said in the post-match presentation, “To be very honest I would not appreciate for the game to go this deep. There was definitely a lot for us to learn from this game. That’s the beauty of sports, it’s never over till it’s over. We need to go back to the drawing board. They bowled really well. Luckily all our batters are in good nick. We should take risks and play shots in the middle overs, need to make sure the game doesn’t go so deep. The ball was getting dried up, but the wicket was a belter. Wasn’t surprised when Mohit and Alzarri were bowling. He has done a lot of hard work, he has shown patience and his time has come [on Mohit]. It would have been a tough pill to swallow if the game had gone the other side. I would like to finish the game earlier, not a big fan of taking it to the last over.”
Gujarat Titans will next take on Rajasthan Royals on Sunday at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
