MOHALI: Shubman Gill, who bats first, reached his second half-century of IPL 2023 on Thursday, while quick bowler Mohit Sharma, who made his return to the competition with a great performance, helped Gujarat Titans defeat Punjab Kings by six wickets at the IS Bindra PCA Stadium.

Gujarat's victory on Thursday was their third this season, moving them up to third place on the standings, while Punjab suffered their second defeat of the competition. Mohit, a past Purple Cap winner in the IPL, bowled for Gujarat last year when they won their first championship.

He stood out with his 2-18 in four overs on Thursday, bowling slower balls and keeping tight lines. Additionally, Mohit bowled 12 dot balls as he led Gujarat's professional bowling effort to hold Punjab to a score of 153/8.

Thanks to Gill's composed 67 off 49 balls, packed with seven fours and a six, the defending champions were on track for an easy chase. After Arshdeep Singh gave up only six runs in the previous over, Gill survived a run-out opportunity with seven runs needed off the last over. Sam Curran then uprooted Gill's off-stump on the very next ball, inciting sudden anxiety in the game.

Following two consecutive yorkers from Curran, David Miller made a last-ditch dive to finish off the second run. Rahul Tewatia calmly completed the chase with four runs needed off the final two balls by moving across and skimming a full ball from Curran over short fine leg for four to give Gujarat the victory with one ball remaining.

As soon as Gill slid into a cover drive off Arshdeep for four, Gujarat was off to a flying start. In the third over, Wriddhiman Saha threw himself at Arshdeep by driving, whipping, dragging, and slicing with contempt.

Saha, however, pulled straight to deep square leg on a bouncer from Rabada in the fifth over, earning the fast bowler his 100th IPL wicket. Sai Sudharsan got things going right away with a brilliant punch through point for four.

Rotating their strikes allowed Sudharsan and Gill to keep the scoreboard moving. Gill used a cut and an inside-out loft to take two boundaries off Rahul Chahar. But Sudharsan lost his balance in the 12th over after tugging to deep fine leg. Hardik Pandya holed out to long-on off Harpreet Brar three overs later.

In the 16th over, off Chahar, Gill casually lofted a cover drive to reach fifty runs. He stunned the crowd by hitting a forehand reminiscent of tennis that soared beyond Curran's non-striker for four points and stood tall to draw Rabada carelessly over a deep square leg for six. Tewatia made sure Gujarat crossed the finish line even though he was bowled in the last over.

Rohit Sharma is fanboy of football legend Zidane

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