In Short
- Rahul Tewatia hit a boundary when GT needed 4 from 2 balls
- GT successfully chased down 154 to win their 3rd match of IPL 2023 season
- Tewatia had hit 2 sixes in the last 2 balls to help GT win over PBKS in 2022
By India Today Sports DeskFormer India captain Anil Kumble joked about feeling Deja Vu as he witnessed Rahul Tewatia play the finisher’s role to perfection against Punjab Kings in Gujarat Titans’ thrilling last-over win in an IPL 2023 match in Mohali on April 13.
Kumble lauded Rahul Tewatia’s finishing skills and recalled Punjab Kings’ heartbreaking defeat to the Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022 when he was the head coach of the franchise.
IPL 2023Points Table
Rahul Tewatia hit just 5 runs from 2 deliveries in a 154-run chase for Gujarat against Punjab on Thursday in Mohali. However, the ice man’s cool finish was needed as Punjab Kings had taken the game to the final over.
Shjubman Gill was cruising on 67 and it looked like Gujarat Titans would chase down the 154-run target with a couple of overs to spare. However, Arshdeep Singh delivered a tight 19th over before Sam Curran sent Gill back in the final over, bringing the equation down to 4 from 2 deliveries.
Tewatia, who had walked into bat in the final over, held his cool and played a paddle sweep over the short fine-leg fielder as Gujarat Titans won with a ball to spare.
“They (Gujarat) would (be coasting). That’s what I thought. Gujarat Titans, I thought, would push hard in sort of the 15-16th over and not take it deep,” Kumble joked during his analysis on Jio Cinema.
“But, it was a bit of a Deja Vu for me, Punjab Kings and Tewatia there. Jitesh missing the run-out. It happened in the last year as well. It happened in the last year as well when Odean Smith missed that run-out and Tewatia changed ends.
“Tewatia, we know how good a finisher he is. He moved perfectly well, he knew where the fielder was, he knew what shot to play and knew what was coming as well. Well down, Tewatia, well done Gujarat Titans. However, there would have been a lot of butterflies for GT for taking it till the end.”
Notably, Tewatia had hit 2 sixes when Gujarat Titans needed 19 runs in the last over. Odeon Smith’s extra run after an overthrow led to Punjab panicking and Tewatia finished with 2 sixes as GT 190-run target in their winning run in Mumbai as Anil Kumble watched on with disbelief from the dug-out.
Tewatia had also broken PBKS’ hearts in IPL 2020 when he made the word sit up and take notice as the then Rajasthan Royals batter hit 5 sixes against Punjab Kings bowler Sheldon Cotrrel in Sharjah, helping the Royals gun down 51 in the last 3 overs.
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