Gujarat Titans (GT) all-rounder Rahul Tewatia shocked Punjab Kings (PBKS) as he hit back to back sixes off the final two deliveries to seal a thrilling win for his side on Friday.
With 12 runs needed off the last two balls, Tewatia kept his calm before hitting two maximums and handed the Hardik Pandya-led team their third win of the 2022 IPL edition.
In an emotional rollercoaster where the pendulum swung back and forth, the Titans had an uphill task of scoring 50 runs in the last four overs. Inform batter Shubman Gill (96) was dismissed in the 19th over, while captain Hardik (27) got run out on the first ball of the final over.
Tewatia, however, held his nerves to smash two consecutive sixes off PBKS pacer Odean Smith and won a nail-biting encounter for the IPL newbies.
Hardik’s wife and Serbian actress Natasa Stankovic, who was standing beside Tewatia’s better half Ridhi Pannu, jumped in joy as soon as the left-handed batter hit the winning runs.
Here’s the video:
𝗪𝗛𝗔𝗧. 𝗔. 𝗙𝗜𝗡𝗜𝗦𝗛! 👌 👌@rahultewatia02 creams two successive SIXES on the last two deliveries as the @hardikpandya7-led @gujarat_titans beat #PBKS & complete a hat-trick of wins in the #TATAIPL 2022! 👏 👏 #PBKSvGT
Scorecard ▶️ https://t.co/GJN6Rf8GKJ pic.twitter.com/ke0A1VAf41
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 8, 2022
Earlier, England all-rounder Liam Livingstone, the costliest foreign player of ongoing IPL, made full use of a lucky reprieve to smash his second half-century of the season and helped PBKS post 189 for the loss of 9 wickets.
Livingstone, who was bought for INR 11.5 crore at IPL 2022 mega auction, scored 64 off just 27 balls after Hardik asked Mayank Agarwal and Co. to bat first.
“Amazing feeling. There was nothing to think about! Just go there and hit sixes, that’s what I and David (Miller) were thinking. I planned against Smith… The last ball was off the middle of the bat, and I knew it was six. The first ball he bowled was wide outside off, and so I thought the last ball was going to come there too. The staff is really chilled here. They just tell us to practice hard,” said Tewatia after the game.
