After a flood of run feasts, match 37 of IPL 2024 saw a rather low scoring encounter with GT emerging victorious after a strugglesome chase after restricting Punjab to a meagre score of 140, which could have been a lot lesser if not for a quickfire 29 off 12 from Harpreet Brar. PBKS failed to utilise the depth and potential of their batting order as Sai Kishore bowled phenomenally to take 4 wickets, which included those of the dangerous duo of Shashank Singh and Ashutosh Sharma, along with Harpreet Brar who was hitting aggressively and Jitesh Sharma who is also potent. He was ably supported by the Afghan spin duo of Noor Ahmad and Rashid Khan, who got rid of the entire dangerous top order of Punjab by themselves with the exception of Prabhsimran Singh’s wicket which was taken by Mohit Sharma.
Punjab fought well as they did not allow Gujarat to score aggressively and picked wickets at regular intervals to keep their hopes of winning the game alive and took it down to the last over. However, Rahul Tewatia’s quickfire cameo jeopardised their chances as runs were lesser than balls remaining. However, Punjab fought bravely till the end with Harshal Patel bowling an economical over even taking two wickets in a hopeless situation. However, it wasn’t Punjab’s day.
GT would definitely feel annoyed at their chase being strugglesome, however they need to continue on the road to victory and improve their performances to compete in the race for play-offs.On the other hand, Punjab need to seriously work on their weaknesses and manifest their deep and potent batting lineup into spectacular performances. Most of their bowlers performed very well in this match and they need to keep this up in order to win more matches.
