Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans (167/6 in 19.5 ovs) beat Punjab Kings (163/9 in 20 ovs) by 4 wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
GT vs PBKS: HIGHLIGHTS | SCORECARD
It was one of those old-school IPL thrillers where even 163 felt loaded with jeopardy. Gujarat Titans eventually got over the line against Punjab Kings by four wickets at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Sunday, May 3, but not before being dragged into a tense final-over scrap.
For long stretches, this was Gujarat’s game to lose. They had dictated terms with the ball, ripped through Punjab Kings’ top order and reduced them to a position from which even 140 looked distant. In the chase too, they were in control often enough to suggest the finish should have been far more comfortable.
That control came largely through Sai Sudharsan, whose composed 57 off 41 balls gave Gujarat’s pursuit both shape and calm. On a surface that demanded restraint more than aggression, Sudharsan played the anchor’s role to near perfection, absorbing pressure early, rotating cleanly through the middle overs and ensuring Gujarat never drifted too far off course even when wickets fell around him.
Instead, Gujarat turned a manageable pursuit into a nervy escape.
That they still walked away with the points mattered most to Shubman Gill, but the nature of the chase will leave room for reflection. Gujarat’s middle order once again struggled to stamp authority on a pursuit that should have been closed out earlier, allowing Punjab to stay alive far longer than they should have.
Punjab, meanwhile, were left with a second straight defeat, but this was a loss they could take pride from. Shreyas Iyer’s side were second-best for large parts of the evening, yet found enough fight to drag the game to the brink and nearly steal one that had looked gone before halfway.
The pitch played its part in keeping both sides honest. Ahmedabad was not impossible for batting, but it demanded method, patience and precise execution. Hard lengths held value, pace-off deliveries gripped just enough, and clean striking required far greater control than the scorecard suggested.
It was the seamers who understood that quickest.
Mohammed Siraj, Jason Holder and Kagiso Rabada were the defining force of Punjab’s innings, reading the surface early and exploiting it expertly. Hard lengths, uncomfortable channels and sustained pressure did the damage, and Punjab’s top order never recovered from the early burst.
If Punjab still managed to post 163, it was almost entirely down to one intervention from Suryansh Shedge.
SURYANSH SHEDGE’S ARRIVAL
At 47 for five inside nine overs, Punjab were staring at the kind of collapse that can bury a game before it begins.
Siraj had already ripped through the top order, Rabada had hurried Prabhsimran Singh, and Holder had turned the squeeze into collapse. Punjab were not just losing wickets, they were losing control of the innings.
Then came Shedge.
His 57 off 29 balls was not merely a rescue act, but one of Punjab’s most valuable innings this season. It came at a point where damage limitation was the priority, yet Shedge gave them something far more valuable than recovery, relevance.
What stood out was his clarity.
There was no blind slogging, no panic, and no attempt to force the rescue too early. He assessed, absorbed and rebuilt. He respected the quality of Gujarat’s quicks, understood the surface and waited for the right moment to counter.
It was an innings built on awareness before aggression.
With Marcus Stoinis offering support, Shedge first steadied Punjab and then transformed the innings. The defining shift came in the 14th over, when he took apart Manav Suthar and changed the mood entirely.
On a surface where boundaries had been hard-earned, Shedge suddenly broke the game open.
He tore into Suthar for 6, 6, 4, 4, 6, taking 26 runs from the over and racing to a 24-ball fifty. It was the over that dragged Punjab back into the contest.
His 79-run stand with Stoinis for the sixth wicket did more than halt Gujarat’s charge. It turned collapse into competition.
By the time Shedge edged Rabada through to Jos Buttler, Punjab had climbed from embarrassment to competitiveness. They were still short of a commanding total, but they had at least given themselves a chance.
Without Shedge, there would have been no contest to stretch into the final over.
GT PACERS RIP INTO PBKS
If Shedge gave Punjab a route back, Gujarat’s fast bowlers were the reason they needed one at all.
This was a night built for disciplined seam and Gujarat’s pace trio exploited it superbly. Siraj, Holder and Rabada did not just strike, they suffocated Punjab with control, pressure and relentless accuracy.
Siraj set the tone in the opening over.
With the new ball doing just enough, he removed Priyansh Arya and Cooper Connolly in the space of two deliveries to throw Punjab into immediate disarray. Arya picked out the deep, while Connolly feathered one behind to Jos Buttler.
Rabada followed with the most hostile spell of the innings. Sharp, quick and awkward, he made scoring feel increasingly risky. His dismissal of Prabhsimran Singh summed up Gujarat’s pressure, a 152 kmph rocket that rushed the batter into a miscued scoop.
Holder then turned pressure into collapse.
Using his height, control and subtle variation, he closed off every release shot and forced Punjab into mistakes. Nehal Wadhera edged behind, while Shreyas Iyer was cramped for room and dragged one back onto his stumps.
At 47 for five, Gujarat had complete control and looked set to bowl Punjab out cheaply.
What made the spell so effective was not just the wickets, but the precision. Gujarat’s seamers understood quicker than Punjab’s batters that this surface was less about force and more about discipline. They hit the deck hard, stayed in awkward channels and made every scoring option feel high-risk.
Even after Shedge’s counterattack, the damage had already been done.
Siraj gave Gujarat the perfect start, Holder broke Punjab’s backbone with 4 for 24, and Rabada brought the hostility that kept the lower order in check.
Sudharsan then ensured Gujarat’s early bowling dominance was not wasted. After Gill’s early departure, he steadied the chase with a 53-run stand alongside Jos Buttler, who briefly broke the pressure with a pair of clean sixes before falling to Vyshak Vijaykumar. Sudharsan remained the constant, reaching his third fifty of the season in 37 balls and keeping Gujarat in control even as Punjab kept striking.
He was eventually caught on the ropes off Vyshak just when Gujarat looked set to close it out, and that dismissal opened the door for late drama. Rahul Tewatia’s wicket added to the tension, leaving Gujarat 11 to get in the final over, but Washington Sundar stayed calm enough to finish the job with an audacious scooped six off Marcus Stoinis.
Gujarat got the points in the end, but Punjab made sure they had to work far harder than they should have.
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