Gujarat Titans 162 for 6 (Gill 39, Buttler 38, Vyshak 3-34, Chahal 2-28) vs Punjab Kings
The pitch seemed flat early on as Gill and Sai Sudharsan started with a flurry of fours. There were drives, pulls and flicks. Gill charged down the track often and was happy to embrace risk. In the third over, he charged Arshdeep Singh and top-edged a pull over the keeper.
Jos Buttler stood tall in the fifth over for a sumptuous punch through cover. Variations came early as Jansen went slower twice in the sixth over. Titans finished the powerplay on 54 for 1.
The slowdown began from overs 6 to 11, in which GT only scored 42 runs. Vyshak went good length or shorter for the most part. A full ball from him to Buttler brought up the game’s first six in the seventh over.
Gill went for the sweep three times in Chahal’s first two overs, and the final attempt was caught at deep midwicket. Gill, whose timing wasn’t at its best, fell for 39 off 27 balls.
The nine balls following Gill’s wicket brought just six runs before Glenn Phillips cut the tension with a straight six off Chahal. The ball went wide of the fielders a couple of times but both Phillips and Buttler survived. Two overs later, Vyshak went full to Phillips and had him caught at long-off.
Buttler, who faced 14 dots in his 33-ball knock, tried to clobber Chahal over long-on but holed out for 38 in the 16th over. GT made 77 for 3 in the middle overs.
There were ample yorkers and slower balls at the death. The first three death overs, bowled by Marco Jansen, Xavier Bartlett and Vyshak, went for just 19, with Washington Sundar and Shahrukh Khan falling in the 19th. The final over, from Arshdeep, included a no ball, four wides and two reviews, and eventually produced 12 runs