Sudharsan the bright star but PBKS win stylishly

The Punjab Kings (PBKS) defeated the Gujarat Titans (GT) in the forty-eighth game of the 2022 Indian Premier League (IPL). The match was played in the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai. Kagiso Rabada was adjudged to be the Man of the Match.

Kings' bowlers have stranglehold on game early on

The Titans had been troubled by Shubman Gill's poor recent form and the lack of a reliable batter at No. 3, and their problems were exacerbated on Tuesday. Wridhhiman Saha swung for the fences down the ground for a stroke-filled 21 off 17, but he and Gill were both dismissed in back-to-back over. Gill was the first to fall after he attempted to steal a single that didn't exist and collided with bowler Sandeep Sharma, while Rishi Dhawan had a direct hit from cover. Saha swung the next ball for a one-bounce four and a six in the next over, but he swung one too many in the fourth over when he miscued Rabada to mid-off.

No boundaries in eight overs

Not only did the Kings' bowlers strike frequently, but they also dried up the boundaries. Sharma bowled to length and short-of-good length areas right outside off with a hint of swing, and the others, too, bowled to their fields so well that the Titans went 48 balls without scoring a boundary. The Titans were 44 for 3 as Hardik Pandya struggled to 1 off six balls before edging one behind after the powerplay finished when he tried to drive Dhawan through the covers.

In his first over, Rahul Chahar injured his bowling hand while catching a deep throw, and he went off immediately. Liam Livingstone bowled the over and then earned another because he could bowl offbreaks to two left-handed batters with the longer leg side boundary. When David Miller tried to end the streak of no boundaries, he found long-off for 11 and the Titans were 67 for 4 at the time.

Titans lifted by Sudharsan's first fifty

When Miller collapsed, it was almost as if Sai Sudharsan, 20, turned on a switch for boundaries. To get to 45, he pounced on the short balls, collecting fours in three overs from Dhawan, Livingstone, and the returning Chahar, as well as one down the ground off Arshdeep Singh.

Despite Rabada's back-to-back wickets of Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan in the 17th over, Sudharsan pulled Singh for six to bring up his fifty and lead the Titans to a more reasonable 143 for eight.

Rajapaksa, Dhawan go, go, go!

The Kings promoted Jonny Bairstow to open to try to break out of his funk on a ground that was two-paced and had good bounce for the quicks, but the move didn't succeed. Bairstow miscued Mohammed Shami's short ball to deep backward square leg for 1 after swinging and pulling four times in his six-ball stint.

Mayank Agarwal elected to slide even lower, sending Bhanuka Rajapaksa, a left-handed hitter, to No. 3. Shikhar Dhawan had already hit two wide balls for back-to-back fours against his Delhi teammate Pradeep Sangwan, and he got some help from Rajapaksa, who hit two fours off Shami's third over when the fast bowler pitched it even slightly short.

Sangwan was replaced by Alzarri Joseph, who received the same treatment. Dhawan got a six and then a four down the leg side. Sangwan returned as soon as the powerplay finished, and he continued to target the off-side boundary. Rajapaksa smashed him for two fours in two balls before Dhawan smashed him for another 15-run over and a comfortable 86 off 78.

NRR gets boost from Dhawan and Livingstone

The Kings may have cautiously seen through Rashid Khan's enchantment and still prevailed in this situation. Dhawan was content to rotate the strike till Lockie Ferguson came back for an action-packed over. Rajapaksa was forced leg before wicket a ball after attempting to flick one, but the top edge went very good for a six. Dhawan scored his 47th IPL fifty.

When 47 runs were needed off of 48, the Kings sent in Livingstone, who was at his best when 27 runs were needed off of 30. Three sixes in a row, including the largest of the IPL and a top edge nearly over the keeper, were followed by a draw for four, a double to the leg side off a yorker, and a one-bounce four to third man, leaving him unbeaten on 30 off just ten balls.