Rahul Tewatia’s fine finishing skills were on display once again on Thursday. When the going got tough in the final over, with Sam Curran pulling it down to four needed of two deliveries, our ice-man nonchalantly scooped the ball over fine leg to take us past the winning line. 

The Gujarat Titans emerged victorious against Punjab Kings by six wickets, picking up our third win of the campaign. 

Talking of that incredible shot under pressure to win the match in the post match conference, Tewatia said, “I was thinking of taking a two by hitting it to the longer boundary on the leg side, but then I backed myself to play the scoop as it was a better shot to play. Thankfully, I could execute it.” 

Punjab Kings posted a target of 154 and after the break, Wriddhiman Saha got us off to a flying start, smashing 31 off 19 balls. This included five boundaries, four of which came in the third over off Arshdeep Singh. 

“Since last season, Wriddhi bhai has been providing us with crucial starts. He opens up the game in the powerplay and makes the job easy for the batters who come next. His knocks are crucial for us and I hope he gives us more such starts at the top,” the all-rounder emphasised.

Shubman Gill anchored the innings brilliantly while Saha took on the bowlers in the opening few overs. Later on, he stitched crucial partnerships with Sai Sudharsan and David Miller. Gill notched up his second half-century of the tournament, taking his run tally to 183 in four innings.   

“The start given by Shubman Gill and Saha helped us a lot. Credit where it's due, they bowled well in the middle overs and the ball was reversing towards the end. That is cricket, eventually their good work helped us pull up our performance as well,” Tewatia added. 

Walking out to bat with not enough time to settle in is a difficult task, but those are the stakes for a finisher. Tewatia has been in that situation multiple times over the last couple of years and has been quite successful with his deliverables as well. 

“Nothing happens overnight, obviously you will get into these crunch situations when the league is so long. I’ve been practising accordingly in the last three or four years, to prepare myself for these death overs. I set targets for myself, I play match simulations and I try to calculate how to take my innings forward. It is important to target the right bowler at the right time,” Tewatia explained.  

Next up, we face the Rajasthan Royals at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.