‌IPL 2024 | Twitter reacts to Gill heroics in vain as local boys star in Punjab’s clinical triumph

Winning the toss and electing to field first paid quick dividends for Punjab Kings as Kagiso Rabada baited Wriddhiman Saha to draw first blood in the 3rd over. Kane Williamson entered the fray and kept ticking the scoreboard with strike rotation and periodic boundaries with Shubman Gill. Following a 52-run powerplay, Harpreet Brar outfoxed him in the 9th over before Sai Sudharsan and Gill accelerated with three fours off Sikandar Raza in the 12th over. The pair added 53 runs for the third wicket before Harshal Patel induced the outside edge of Sudharsan in the 14th over. With the score reading 123/3 in 15 overs and Gill surpassing fifty in 31 balls, Arshdeep bowled a seven-run 16th over, followed by Gill switching gears despite the fall of Vijay Shankar. Rahul Tewatia joined Gill in the assault with an 8-ball 23 resulting in 46 runs off the last three overs to propel the score to 199/5 in 20 overs.

In response, the Kings incurred an early setback in the form of skipper Shikhar Dhawan, followed by Jonny Bairstow’s brisk start ending in despair, courtesy of a Noor Ahmad wrong’un. Amidst the two dismissals, Prabhsimran Singh attacked the opposition bowlers before Noor Ahmad outwitted him in the eighth over for his second wicket. Sam Curran failed to do the needful, departing cheaply off Azmatullah Omarzai in the ninth over, which led the Kings to 83/4 at the halfway mark of the chase. Despite 27 runs coming in the next couple of overs on the back of Shashank Singh’s assault, Mohit Sharma induced the outside edge of Sikandar Raza. Although Mohit remained economical from one end, runs came thick and fast from the other end, courtesy of Jitesh Sharma and impact sub-Ashutosh Sharma. While the former was outdone in the 16th over, the latter’s 17-ball 31 quickfire ended in the first ball of the last over with 7 runs required from the last five balls. Two runs followed in the next three balls with an extra before Shashank Singh extracted a four and a single to seal a 200-run chase.