IPL-17: PBKS vs GT | Sai Kishore-led Gujarat Titans spinners beat Kings XI Punjab

It’s an all-too-familiar script for Kings XI Punjab in the Indian Premier League (IPL), with Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma once again on fire as the team took on Gujarat Titans at the Maharaja Yadvind Singh International Cricket Stadium with a score of 86-5. April 21 at Mollanpur.

Unfortunately for the hosts, there was no respite this time as both batsmen returned to the dugout in three overs but left-arm spinner R. Sai was tricked by Kishore and bowled in the third game of the season.

Ashutosh failed to clear the rectangular boundary after his dismissal but Shashank gave a simple catch to Sai Kishore after charging.

With a record of 99 in seven innings, Punjab were forced to bring in Harpreet Singh Bhatia as an impact player and left-hander Harpreet Brar) put together 40 valuable runs to drag the hosts to 142 runs.

Earlier, after electing to bat, Punjab’s top order was stunned as Sam Curran and Prabhusimran Singh put on the team’s second 50-run opening partnership, but soon watched the game from the sidelines.

Four of Punjab’s top five batsmen died of head hemorrhage. He was dismissed on the next ball but fell just one ball behind as Pravsimran expertly hit Mohit Sharma for a six. After finding the boundary with a reverse sweep on the previous delivery, Riley Rasu also snared Noor Ahmed.

Liam Livingstone ended his 19-ball boundary drought with a calculated sweep after Rossouw was dismissed, but went wide off the next ball, thus slipping for the first time. Jitesh Sharma opened the attack with a brilliant six off Sai Kishore but three balls later he charged at the bowler again but the ball dipped and turned, breaking his stumps.

Sai Kishore, Noor and Rashid Khan took seven wickets between them to overcome seamer-friendly conditions and confuse the hosts at the Den. Confused by the Punjab batsmen, the on-field umpires overturned three decisions.

Scoreboard

King of Punjab: Sam Curran lbw b Rashid 20 (19b, 2×4)Prabhu Simran Singh C Saha B Mohit 35 (21b, 3×4, 3×6)Riley Rossu lbw b Noor 9 (7b, 2×4)Jitesh Sharma B Sai Kishore 13 (12b, 1×6)Liam Livingstone c Tewatia b Noor 6 (9b, 1×4)Shashank Singh c & b Sai Kishore 8 (12 b)Ashutosh Sharma c Mohit b Sai Kishore 3 (8 b)Harpreet Bhatia (Impact player in place of Prabhu Simran) 14 have been used (19 b)Harpreet Brar C Shahrukh B Sai Kishore 29 (12b, 4×4, 1×6)Harsh Patel C Shahrukh B Mohit 0 (1b)Kagiso Rabada (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (lb-1, nb-1, w-2): Total 4 (20 overs): 142;

Fall of wickets: 1-52 (Prabhu Simran, 5.3 overs), 2-63 (Rosu, 6.6), 3-67 (Curran, 7.5), 4-78 (Livingstone, 10.2), 5-86 (Jitesh, 11.4), 6-92 (Ashutosh, 13.5), 7-99 (Shashank, 15.2), 8-139 (Harpreet Brar, 18.6), 9-140 (Hashal, 19.2).

Gujarat Titans Bowling: Umarzai 2-0-13-0, Warriors 1-0-21-0, Mohit 4-0-32-2, Rashid 4-0-15-1, Noor 4-0-20-2, Sai Kishore 4-0 -33-4, Shah Rukh 1-0-7-0.