MUMBAI, India, CMC – Rising West Indies star Odean Smith had a day to forget in the Indian Premier League, suffering the indignity of a first-ball ‘duck’, dropping a catch and then giving up a brace of sixes off the last two deliveries of the game, as his Punjab Kings went down by six wickets to Gujarat Titans in a last-ball finish.
In pursuit of a challenging 190 at Brabourne Stadium yesterday, Titans got over the line in dramatic fashion when Rahul Tewatia (13 not out) clattered fast bowling all-rounder Smith for leg-side sixes, in a final over that gushed 19 runs.
Overall, the 25-year-old Jamaican conceded 35 runs from his three overs without taking a wicket, extending his lukewarm start to life in the lucrative Twenty20 league on the Asian subcontinent. He has scored 37 runs from four innings and grabbed just two wickets from 11 overs.
Sent in earlier, Punjab Kings rattled up 189 for nine off their 20 overs, Englishman Liam Livingstone blasting 64 from 27 deliveries with seven fours and four sixes, and opener Shikhar Dhawan getting 35 from 30 balls.
The pair put on 52 for the third wicket and when Dhawan fell at the start of the 11th over, Livingstone combined with Jitesh Sharma (23) to add another 38 for the fourth wicket.
Jitesh and Smith fell in successive deliveries at the start of the 14th over, the West Indies star picking out long-on with 23-year-old seamer Darshan Nalkande (2-37).
In reply, Titans were guided by a magnificent 96 off 59 balls from opener Shubman Gill, the 22-year-old right-hander lashing 11 fours and a six.Dropped on 45 by Smith off a return catch in the eighth over, Gill put on 32 for the first wicket with Australian Matthew Wade (6), 101 for the second wicket with Sai Sudharsan (35) before inspiring a 37-run, third wicket partnership with captain Hardik Pandya (27). The advantage was with Punjab Kings at the start of the final over and even though Smith sent down a wide first ball, Pandya was run out off the second delivery scampering a single.
However, David Miller (6 not out) kept Titans in the contest by pulling Smith to the square leg boundary off the third delivery before Tewatia produced his fireworks.