Punjab Kings (PBKS) completed the highest successful chase of IPL 2024 on Thursday, defeating Gujarat Titans (GT) by three wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. All-rounder Shashank Singh was the unlikely hero for Punjab, hitting an unbeaten 61 off 29 balls to help his side chase a target of 200. PBKS were teetering at 70/4 at one point and it looked like GT were on course for a third straight win at home. However, Shashank and Ashutosh Sharma put up a match-defying stand to help PBKS through in the match.
As Shashank scored the winning run over Darshan Nalkande on the penultimate episode, PBKS co-owner and bollywood actress Preity Zinta jumped from her seat and joined the celebration from the stands.
Panjab king wins match 3 wicket.
“Preity Zinta” Gill #GTvsPBKS “Shashank Singh” “Vijay Shankar”pic.twitter.com/8NQtvwihYM pic.twitter.com/QeveToEKC6— Rahul Meena (@Rahulm_01) April 5, 2024
During the IPL auction last year, there was confusion over Shashank’s purchase. It was a case of mistaken identity that PBKS suffered during the acceleration period with two players with the same name.
After acquiring the right Shashank, PBKS published an insightful tweet to burst the bubble and it seems the players too have responded well after taking home Zinta’s squad.
The match saw Gill achieve the highest individual score of the IPL 2024 – 89* and Rahul Tewatia came on at the end to play a brief cameo of 23* in just 8 deliveries to take GT to 199/4 in the first innings.
In reply, Shashank Singh’s (61*) blitz and Ashutosh’s (31*) blitz rattled GT as they chased down the target and completed a three-wicket win for the Punjab Kings.
After the win, the Punjab-based franchise is at fifth position in the IPL 2024 standings with four points. On the other hand, Gujarat retains the sixth position with 4 points.
PBKS captain Shikhar Dhawan praised both Ashutosh Sharma and Shashank Singh for ultimately building a crucial partnership.
“It was a great match, very close, I’m glad the boys put in the work. The plan was to give a good start but unfortunately I got out of it but we were around 60 runs in 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 number 7 and is now showing his positive attitude. He is playing in the IPL after a long time and he played so well. I will also mention Ashutosh, he came in and played well under pressure,” Dhawan said.
(With ANI inputs)
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