IPL 2022 | Match 16 | Gujarat Titans vs Punjab Kings - Best Performers of the match

It was a jaw dropping finish to what was an absolute nail-biting thriller of a match between the Gujarat lions and Punjab kings. Rahul Tewatia once again emerged victorious against the kings, albeit in different jersey shades by smashing 2 sixes in the last 2 balls and sealing an almost improbable win for his team. Let us analyze the best individual performances from today’s match

Liam Livingstone’s 64(27)

Liam Livingstone played another wonderful knock for the Punjab kings and set the tone for Punjab Kings after the loss of two quick wickets. Let's have a look at his length split:

So here we can see that Liam Livingstone has capitalized his hitting across all the ranges of length. While he was a bit cautious while playing the good length deliveries, he did not hold his power against the fuller and short length deliveries which accounted for 68.75 percent of his total runs today. The Gujarat bowler could have probably aimed more on the blockhole by bowling more yorkers against which he has generally been cautious

Let's also have a look at his record against the different types of bowlers 

These stats prove even further on how destructive his innings has been. He has not spared any bowler today and even played Rashid well in the middle overs. What makes the innings even more impressive is his flawless ability to take on any bowler even in the middle overs where batsmen generally try to find gaps for runs with occasional boundaries but he unfortunately ended on the losing side.

Shubman Gill’s 96(59)

Shubman Gill played one of the best t20 innings in IPL history and his best t20 innings ever. It's not everyday that you see a batsman finding gaps beautifully without overhitting the ball and at the same time, striking at a colossal 162.7 which is totally different to his general approach towards this format. Let us first have a look at his phase wise analysis:

So here we can see that Gill has taken a counter attacking approach from the start with a strike rate of 173.68 and a staggering balls per boundary value of 3.16 which is completely opposite to what his general approach to the game is initially. He also continued a similar approach in the middle overs where he was able to find a boundary at an average of 5.6 balls while consuming less dot balls by following a strike rotated approach and kept the scoreboard ticking.

Now let us Analyze his performance against the different bowling type 

Gill took a very smart approach while playing against the different types of bowlers. While he was more aggressive against the right arm fast medium and left arm pacers, he took a more cautious approach against the leg spinners especially against Rahul Chahar against whom he struck just a single boundary and scored 20 runs by running for singles and doubles. He also had an off record against arshdeep singh before this match but he took on the left arm seamer and looked in flawless touch against him. 

It will be interesting to see how Gill approaches the following game and what style of play he will choose, considering he has gone for a completely counter attacking strategy in the last two matches which paid off. 

Rashid Khan(3/22 in 4 overs)

Rashid Khan once again proved his experience in the middle overs when he came back for his last over and scalped the big wickets of Shahrukh Khan and Liam Livingstone and thereby restricting their score to less than 200. It is his smart bowling and variations which tend to make big hitters lose patience and go for the big hits. Let us Analyze his length split:

So here we can see that Rashid has kept his lengths extremely tight and only 2 out of his 24 deliveries were marginally shorter than good length, one of which also fetched him the big wicket of livingstone. Majority of his lengths were either good or between the good and full length deliveries and he also tricked the batsman with the change of pace as he kept bowling quicker through the air and also tossed up a few deliveries in between his spell. Let us also have a look at his variations chart:

Rashid kept tricking the batsmen with his variations and his googly was the most difficult to pick up since he kept setting up the batsman for a leg break and sneak’s in a googly and the stats also show that two of his three wickets have been taken with the help of a googly. He also kept bowling flatter with minimal bounce which forced the batsman to come forward and play and this created a rhythm for the batsman which Rashid ends up breaking with either a googly or a slower tossed up delivery.

Another interesting point to note here is that Rashid had induced a false shot percentage of 37.5(9 deliveries)  in today’s match and 5 of these were due to a googly. Let us also have a look at his variations chart: