Skipper Gill's unbeaten fifty propels GT to 199/4 against PBKS
Ahmedabad, Apr 4: Skipper Shubman Gill led from the front with an unbeaten fifty to steer Gujarat Giants to an imposing 199 for four against Punjab Kings in an Indian Premier League match here on Thursday.
Gill made 89 off 48 balls, the highest individual score this season so far, and in the process hit six fours and four sixes to guide GT's innings, which was also helped generously by B Sai Sudharsan's 19-ball 33 and Rahul Tewatia's 8-ball 23.
Sent into bat, opener Gill made a rousing start to the innings as he clobbered spinner Harpreet Brar straight over his head for the first six of the match.
Runs flowed for GT till the third over before Kagiso Rabada (2/44) ousted Wriddhiman Saha, latched by PBKS skipper Shikhar Dhawan at mid-off.
Kane Williamson (26 off 22) , who replaced injured David Miller, looked in great touch as he hit Sam Curran and Rabada for a few boundaries to keep GT scoreboard ticking.
But Williamson's knock was cut short by Brar's extra bounce, caught at backward point by Jonny Bairstow in the ninth over.
Zimbabwe all-rounder Sikandar Raza was taken to task by Gill and new man Sudharshan as the duo picked up 14 runs off the 12th over, courtesy three hits to the fence.
Gill led from the front and clobbered Rabada for a maximum before Sudharsan struck the bowler to the mid-off boundary to keep up the tempo.
Sudharsan went about his business in style, picking up boundaries at will while Gill was happy to play the second fiddle.
Sudharsan's cameo came to an end when Harshal Patel snared him, caught by wicketkeeper Jitesh Sharma as the batter went for an upper cut off a slow delivery.
Gill brought up his fifty off 31 balls with a boundary behind deep square leg in the 15th over.
Gill was at his imperious best in front of the wicket as he dispatched Harshal over long-on for a maximum in the 17th over.
While Gill was going all guns blazing from one end, Vijay Shankar was flat and was caught by a diving Brar at long-off off Rabada.
In his second spell, Harshal was wayward with his lengths and Tewatia made good use of it as the penultimate over yielded 20 runs.
Tewatia played a blinder, including two boundaries of pacer Arshdeep Singh in the last two balls.
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Ruskin Bond hospitalised in Dehradun due to leg problem
Dehradun (PTI): Author Ruskin Bond has been admitted to a hospital in Dehradun due to a leg problem, a close friend of the writer said here on Sunday.
After visiting Bond at the hospital, well-known Dehradun-based publisher Upendra Arora said the elderly author was unable to walk properly, following which he was admitted to a private hospital here on Saturday.
The 91-year-old Bond, a recipient of the Padma Bhushan, lives in the Landour area of Mussoorie.
Arora said Bond is undergoing physiotherapy under medical supervision and is expected to be discharged from the hospital in two to three days.
"There is nothing serious," he said.
Bond has written more than 500 short stories, essays and novels, of which 69 books are for children.
He was awarded the Sahitya Akademi Award in 1992 for Our Trees Still Grow in Dehra.
