A powerful performance by the Punjab Kings helped them hammer Gujarat Titans by 8 wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Tuesday. PBKS won with four overs to spare, giving the side a much-needed win and a massive boost to their net run rate.
Liam Livingstone was the star of the show as he smashed 28 runs off Mohammed Shami including a 117-meter six as he ended the game in 16th over.
Earlier in the game, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bat first. On a difficult pitch, the Titans’ openers could not get going. The innings was held together by young batter Sai Sudharsan (65 not out off 50 balls). Barring this knock, none of their batters found their timing, leading PBKS’ Kagiso Rabada to pick up four wickets.
In response, Punjab Kings lost opener Jonny Bairstow early as he was dismissed for just one run. However, Shikhar Dhawan was the anchor of the innings with an unbeaten 62. He found good support in Bhanuka Rajapaksa who took on the bowling attack and brought the target well within reach with a powerful 40.
After Bhanuka’s dismissal, Livingstone walked in and found his momentum in the over post the second strategic time-out. The all-rounder launched an all-out attack on Shami.
Here’s the monstrous six off Shami that sent the ball into the top tier at the DY Patil Stadium:
The first ball was a length ball that was angled in and Livingstone cleared his front leg and swung through the line to send the ball sailing over deep square leg. The commentators, the players, and even the batter was surprised by how far the ball had travelled.
It was the biggest six of the tournament, measuring 117 metres. Even Shami smirked as he walked back to his bowling mark and Punjab captain Mayank Agarwal was dumbfounded by how clean the strike was.
Livingstone was not done yet. He clobbered the next two balls for successive sixes and then finished the game on the final ball of the innings to give Punjab a huge win.
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