Xtra Time Web Desk : Veteran opener Shikhar Dhawan was on the top of his game on Tuesday as Punjab Kings sealed a thrashing 8 wicket win over table toppers Gujarat Titans in a one sided affair after restricting Hardik Pandya’s men to a total of 143/8 in their 20 overs before successfully chasing it down with four overs remaining.
Although Rabada and Livingstone hogged the headlines for their match winning performances, but it was the experienced Dhawan who scored a steady and sensible 62* off 53 balls to steer his team through to a valuable victory.
Often criticized for his low strike rate, Dhawan today answered his critics in perfect style as he anchored the innings through the 16 overs, and passed on the 300 run mark in the Indian Premier League 2022, also for the 13th time in the 15 seasons he has played so far.
With the help of 8 fours and a solitary six, the 35 year old has again brought his new franchise back on track apart from entering the race of contenders for a spot in the Indian team for the upcoming T20 World Cup in Australia.
And, after the crucial win over Gujarat, the calm and composed Punjab Kings skipper Mayank Agarwal opened up on how much this victory means to the team.
“We would like to string a few (wins), no better time than getting a few wins back-to-back. We are trying to get the best out of Jonny. He’s done well opening. I said, ‘It’s okay, I’ll bat at four, I’ll anchor the innings at four’. With Livi it was clear, Shikhar to bat through and Livi could go out and play the way he wants to play. It was nice the way he played, got the score quickly. When we got to that position, two points are almost clear, if we can score it as quickly as possible, we could also improve the Net Run-Rate. I thought we bowled exceedingly well, we got early wickets and choked them in the middle. That really help us to restrict them to a below-par score. The partnership between Shikhar and Bhanu was crucial for us,” said the winning captain in a post match interview.
Now, with 5 wins from 10 games under their belt, Mayank Agarwal’s Punjab have moved up to the 5th place in the points table and are very much back in the contention for making it to the playoffs.