GT vs PBKS: Rajasthan Royals take jibe at Punjab Kings as Rahul Tewatia hits winning runs

GT vs PBKS: Following the culmination of match 18 of the IPL 2023, Rajasthan Royals took a jibe at the Punjab Kings. PBKS lost the match on the day to Gujarat Titans by 6 wickets. Rahul Tewatia once again became the hero for Titans and got the side home in a tense encounter.

While the match was between PBKS and GT, it was Rajasthan Royals who got the opportunity to talk about the ruins of PBKS. With 4 to get in 2 balls, Rahul Tewatia went unorthodox, and with the fine leg up, the ball headed toward only one direction. Witnessing Tewatia striking the winning runs, Rajasthan Royals went cheeky with PBKS and left a post that seemingly highlights the memories of IPL 2020, when the left-hander smashed 5 sixes in an over off Sheldon Cottrell. Tewatia, was with RR back then.

Though the latest innings against PBKS weren't of the same altitude but Tewatia held his nerves at the end to down Punjab once again. Ahead of Tewatia's 2-ball monumental share, the innings was anchored by Shubman Gill, who made 67 off 49. However, the player of the match turned out to be Mohit Sharma, who made an emphatic comeback at the IPL scene and ended up with an exceptional spell of 4 overs 18 runs, and 2 wickets. With these combined efforts Gujarat registered victory over Punjab by 6 wickets.

GT vs PBKS: IPL 2023 match 18

Batting first, PBKS got a tumultuous start as they lost Prabhsimran Singh on the second ball of the match. The ever-consistent Shikhar Dhawan also looked out of sorts at the Mohali Stadium and soon fell after adding 8 runs to the board. At 28 for 2 after 3.2 overs, Punjab needed a partnership to steady things. But the 37-run stand between Bhanuka Rajapaksa and Jitesh Sharma turned out to be the innings' biggest one. All the batsmen in the middle order got the start but failed to capitalise the scores in the 20s into something immense and sizeable. After 20 overs PBKS put on 153 runs on the board.

In reply, GT got the best possible start as Wriddhiman Saha once again fired from the top. Saha and Shubman Gill were scoring at the rate of more than 10 in an over, but the partnership could only take the ship till the 48-run mark as the Wicketkeeper batsman held out at that stage at the deep square leg. Saha fell after scoring a brisk 30 off 19 balls. He became the 100th wicket of Kagiso Rabada in the IPL. The wicket brought Sai Sudarshan to the crease. Gill and Sudarshan kept the scoreboard ticking but could not take it till the end. Sudarshan could not get it going this time as he got out after scoring 19 runs off 20 balls. The match started to come in balance as Hardik Pandya also perished cheaply. Needing 45 off 34, David Miller and Shubman Gill got together, the pair took the game to the end at the stage when 7 were required off the last ball. Gill's wicket in the final over flickered the interest meter at a nailbiting spot, but Rahul Tewatia made sure that the match does not go till the last ball. As 4 runs were required off 2 balls, the left-hander scooped it over the fine leg for a boundary. With the ball crossing the fence, GT registered the win by 6 wickets.