IPL 2022: Dhawan, Rabada star as Punjab Kings earn big win against leaders Gujarat Titans

Kagiso Rabada bagged a four-for before Shikhar Dhawan hit an unbeaten half-century as Punjab Kings earned a dominating eight-wicket victory against table-toppers Gujarat Titans in their Indian Premier League 2022 match at the DY Patil Stadium on Tuesday.

Gujarat Titans were restricted to 143/8 by Punjab Kings after they opted to bat. Sai Sudharsan top-scored for the Titans with an unbeaten 65 off 50 balls. In reply, Punjab Kings scored 145/2 in 16 overs with opener Dhawan making 62* off 53 balls.

Punjab skipper Mayank Agarwal demoted himself in the batting order as the team opened with Dhawan and Jonny Bairstow. The English right-hander was dismissed in the third over but the in-form Bhanuka Rajapaksa (40 off 28) then got together with Dhawan to add a match-winning 87-run partnership for the second wicket.

Dhawan held firm till the end and Liam Livingstone (30* off 10) provided the late fireworks, hitting Mohammed Shami for 28 runs in the 16th over which included a a hat-trick of sixes, to seal the deal.

Earlier, the Gujarat batting lineup struggled to build partnerships throughout. Opener Wriddhiman Saha scored 21 off 17 and young Sai Sudharsan did well to remain unbeaten but none of the other batters got going.

Pace spearhead Rabada finished with excellent figures of 4/33 in four overs. Sandeep Sharma conceded only 17 runs in his four overs, while Rishi Dhawan bagged a wicket for 26 runs in his full quota of four overs.

It was just the second defeat of the season for Gujarat Titans and the result meant Punjab Kings moved up to fifth position on the points table.

Brief scores

Gujarat Titans: 143/8 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 64 not out; Kagiso Rabada 4/33, Rishi Dhawan 1/26, Sandeep Sharma 0/17).

Punjab Kings: 145/2 in 16 overs (Shikhar Dhawan 62 not out, Liam Livingstone 30 not out, Bhanuka Rajapaksa 40).