PBKS vs GT Highlights, IPL 2022: Rahul Tewatia slams sixes off last two balls to secure incredible win for Gujarat

We're 15 minutes away from toss at the Brabourne Stadium. PBKS had won while batting first in their last game, while Titans also successfully defended a total in their previous game against DC.

Titans have picked three and four wickets in the Powerplay in their first two games respectively. Punjab, meanwhile, have scored 60+ scores in all games in the first six overs.

"Every match from now becomes very important. They would want to keep the momentum going. The pitch should be 180+ here." -Sunil Gavaskar

Mayank Agarwal and Hardik Pandya, the captains of both sides, caught up before the game at the Brabourne Stadium.

Mayank Agarwal needs 46 more runs to complete 4000 T20 runs.

Both sides have a chance to go top in the IPL table with the win tonight.

Punjab Kings had successfully defended the 181-run target in their previous game at the same venue against Chennai Super Kings. Humidity has been relatively low at the Brabourne Stadium; will we see a change in trend with captains opting to bat here?

For the Titans, Vijay Shankar could be sidelined for the game, following inconsistent performances in the opening two games.

Shubman, Wade, Gurkeerat/Saha, Abhinav Manohar, Hardik, Miller, Tewatia, Rashid, Ferguson, Aaron/Dayal, Shami

One of the major decisions in the XI would be selecting one of Rajapaksa and Bairstow.

Mayank, Dhawan, Bairstow, Livingstone, Bawa, Shahrukh, Odeon, Chahar, Rabada, Arshdeep, Arora

Leg-spinner Rahul Chahar has conceded only one four and a six in three games for the Punjab Kings so far, having completed his four-over quota in each game.

He has taken six wickets so far.

Matthew Wade(w), Shubman Gill, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya(c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Abhinav Manohar, Rashid Khan, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Aaron, Mohammed Shami, Wriddhiman Saha, Pradeep Sangwan, Jayant Yadav, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Alzarri Joseph, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Darshan Nalkande, Rahmanullah Gurbaz, Dominic Drakes, Sai Sudharsan, Yash Dayal, Noor Ahmad

Mayank Agarwal(c), Shikhar Dhawan, Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Jitesh Sharma(w), Shahrukh Khan, Odean Smith, Kagiso Rabada, Rahul Chahar, Vaibhav Arora, Arshdeep Singh, Jonny Bairstow, Benny Howell, Sandeep Sharma, Rishi Dhawan, Baltej Singh, Writtick Chatterjee, Prerak Mankad, Ishan Porel, Atharva Taide, Prabhsimran Singh, Harpreet Brar, Ansh Patel, Raj Bawa

Arora had almost quit the game way back in 2018, when seven catches were dropped on his bowling during a district game in Himachal Pradesh. However, his personal coach pushed him to continue, and the pacer eventually made his Ranji debut for the side a year later.

In PBKS' previous game against CSK, pacer Vaibhav Arora made his IPL debut and enjoyed an impressive outing, ending with figures of 2/21 in four overs, dismissing Robin Uthappa and Moeen Ali cheaply.

The team management would be hoping for a similar outing from the youngster against GT tonight.

Rashid enjoys an impressive record against Shikhar Dhawan in IPL so far, having dismissed him thrice in 35 balls.

Among GT's bowlers, Rashid is the only player against whom Dhawan has scored with a strike rate of less than 100. Will Titans introduce Rashid early in the innings?

Chris Gayle -1132

Alex Hales-1054

David Warner- 1005

Aaron Finch -998

Shikhar Dhawan- 997

PBKS opener Shikhar Dhawan could reach an incredible feat in the game against Gujarat Titans.

Shikhar Dhawan needs 3 more fours to complete 1000 fours in T20s, he will be the 1st Indian to reach this landmark.

In the previous game, Shami and Ferguson took six wickets of Delhi Capitals' 9 in the innings. Shami had taken the crucial wicket of Roman Powell in the game, ending DC's hopes of mounting an unlikely comeback.

The duo has combined to taken 9 wickets so far.

Rashid will have to put his best foot forward to reach this landmark and needless to say, he can pull it through.

The Afghanistan spinner needs five more dismissals to reach 100 IPL wickets.

Rashid has picked 18 wickets in 10 matches against the Punjab Kings so far. Will tonight be Rashid's night?

Rashid Khan has picked two wickets -- a wicket each in as many games for Titans so far. However, considering his performances in the past, Rashid has been a bit expensive, conceding 57 runs in 8 overs.

The Kiwi pacer, after the side's victory against the Capitals in the previous game, had lauded Hardik Pandya on his leadership skills. Ferguson had ended with figures of 4/28 in four overs and in the post-match press conference, Ferguson said, “Hardik is always giving us confidence to play the game that we want to play and it's nice to have a captain who trusts your skills.”

The Delhi Capitals failed to buy back Kagiso Rabada in the IPL auction and while the franchise has had a poor start to the season (2 losses in 3 games), Rabada has been impressive for Punjab Kings so far.

The South African has been fairly economical in his two games for the Kings so far, registering figures of 1/23 and 1/28. In addition, Rabada also made handy contributions with the bat in both matches (25 and 12*).

Punjab Kings bought Liam Livingstone for a whopping INR 11.25 crore in the mega auction, and from what we have seen so far, it seems Livingstone will prove his worth this season.

The England all-rounder was immense in the side's victory against the CSK in their previous game, scoring a quickfire 60 off 32 balls while also picking two crucial wickets.

A third option would be the Punjab Kings going with the same four players in the game; and that would draw some attention.

With Bairstow available, the England batter should ideally be walking into the XI. But considering the form of their overseas stars, this possibility couldn't be ruled out.

The most straightforward swap would be Bairstow for Rajapaksa. However, the Sri Lankan has played brilliant knocks for the side in the first two games (43 off 22 balls against RCB; 31 off 9 balls against KKR).

A second option would be Bairstow coming in for Odean Smith, but that would leave PBKS with five bowlers – a risky proposition.

Bhanuka Rajapaksa, Liam Livingstone, Odean Smith, and Kagiso Rabada have all been impressive for the PBKS so far. With Bairstow set to be available for the upcoming game, the team management faces a certain dilemma; Who will make place for the England batter?

Or, will Bairstow even play?

The Punjab Kings received a massive boost ahead of the game against Titans, as their England batter Jonny Bairstow completed his quarantine and will be available for selection in the game tonight.

The opening combination of Mayank Agarwal and Shikhar Dhawan looks incredibly strong on paper. However, in the past two games, the openers have failed to fire for the side.

The middle-order did rescue the PBKS for the side against Chennai Super Kings, but the team management would be expecting Mayank and Dhawan to capitalize on the Powerplay when the side takes on the Titans tonight.

Against the Delhi Capitals, Pandya registered economical figures of 1/22 in four overs, taking the important wicket of Tim Seifert in his first over of the game.

Moreover, Pandya came as the first-change bowler, hinting that the 28-year-old is growing in confidence with the ball.

Hardik has been among the runs, with 33 and 31 in his opening two games with the bat. However, both innings lacked the power-hitting we usually associate Pandya with. Pandya's 33 came off 28 deliveries, and he took 27 balls for his 31 against DC.

In the previous game, Shubman Gill's blitzkrieg rescued Titans and steered them to a competitive score. And it won't be an exaggeration to say that Gill's innings alone proved to be the difference between both sides.

Barring the opener, no other batter in the Titans lineup stepped up against DC, and the team management would be looking for a combined effort from the side tonight.

Gill has struggled significantly against the South African speedster in the IPL. In the 23 balls he has faced against Rabada, Gill has scored only 12 runs, while being dismissed once.

Yesterday, Ravi Bishnoi had won the match-up against Warner early in DC's innings. Can the South Africa pacer do the same against Gill tonight?

Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya was all praise for the young Indian opener after his magnificent knock against the CSK.

“Fantastic, this is the Shubman Gill we all want to see. The kind of confidence he's carrying is going to come to all the batters,” Pandya had said in the post-match presentation following the win.

The young opener was dismissed on a duck in Titans' opening game against Lucknow; however, he return to run-scoring in style as Gill slammed a brilliant 84 off merely 46 deliveries, steering the Titans to a strong total of 171/6 in 20 overs.

His innings proved key in the end, as Titans eventually restricted DC to 157/9 to clinch a narrow win.

This is the fourth game at the Brabourne Stadium in this season of the tournament. On two occasions, the side's batting second secured easy victories at the venue.

However, the Punjab Kings became the first team to successfully defend a target at the CCI, as they beat Chennai Super Kings by 54 runs in the previous game.

Hardik Pandya's men couldn't have asked for a better start. After defeating fellow tournament debutants Lucknow Super Giants in the opening game of the season, Gujarat Titans defeated the Delhi Capitals by 14 runs in a close finish to the tournament.

As they face the Punjab Kings, the Pandya-led side would be aiming to secure a hat-trick of wins.

Mayank Agarwal's men made a strong start to the season when they defeated the Royal Challengers Bangalore; however, Andre Russell's blitzkrieg snatched the win away from the PBKS in their second game.

However, it was a dominant victory for PBKS against the Chennai Super Kings, as they defeated Jadeja's side by 54 runs.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Match 16 of the 2022 Indian Premier League - Punjab Kings vs Gujarat Titans. While the PBKS returned to winning ways in the game against Chennai Super Kings, Titans are yet to concede a defeat in the tournament so far.