Watch: Rahul Tewatia creates deja vu with outrageous shot off Sam Curran when 4 was needed off 2, GT win vs PBKS

Rahul Tewatia, Punjab Kings and last-over finishes are inseparable. And astonishingly, no matter how bad the start is, it's always a 'happy ending' for the all-rounder and his side whether it is Rajasthan Royals or Gujarat Titans. Tewatia, who became a household name by hitting PBKS seamer Sheldon Cottrell for five sixes in an over after a disastrous start in that match to completely turn it around and win it for RR in IPL 2020, has pulled off another heist, this time for Gujarat Titans. His exploits on Thursday in IPL 2023 may not be rated as highly as his Sharjah heroics against Cottrell or his two consecutive sixes off Odean Smith in Mumbai when 12 was needed off 2 balls but it secured another crucial win for the defending champions from a tricky situation.

Despite having a well-settled Shubman Gill and classy finisher in David Miller in the middle, GT somehow managed to drag their 154-run chase to the last over. Sam Curran started the over brilliantly with a yorker to Miller and then cleaned up Gill for 67 with a length delivery to make the Mohali crowd believe. In walked Tewatia with GT needing 6 runs off 4 balls.

Curran, the IPL's most expensive player, nailed another yorker and Tewatia got off the mark with a single to long-on. Curran made matters more interesting by bowling his third perfect yorker of the over that got Miller off balance. It was down to 4 runs off 2 balls and Tewatia had the bat in his hand.

Also Read | Gill's epic 'love story' remark after Tewatia's bold shot with 4 needed off 2

It is difficult to say whether the left-hander got flashes of his brilliance in Sharjah or his lusty blows in Brabourne but he surely appeared to be confident and had a plan on his mind. Curran ran in and bowled it full and outside off, away from Tewatia's arc.

But the GT left-hander was more than expecting the length. He walked across, sat down on one knee and just scooped it over the short fine leg fielder to crush the PBKS fans' hearts.

Watch: Rahul Tewatia's last-over boundary seals victory for Gujarat Titans

Another last over, another tough situation and another Tewatia classic. He thumped his chest while looking at the dugout where Hardik Pandya and company looked more relieved than pumped.

"The wicket got tougher towards the end. It was difficult to score boundaries at will. It was important for us to run hard and get those boundaries. I feel I should have finished the match but I feel Rahul Tewatia and Kings XI is a love-story. In these types of games there is definitely pressure on both teams. But it's important to keep getting those singles and not have dot balls. Just after their innings got over, we knew that it would be easier to score runs with the hard ball. It got slower with the old ball. So we needed to get off to a good start in the powerplay. We lost a bit of momentum when Hardik bhai got out. It wasn't a big score but it was important to rotate the strike and not have dot balls," said Gill after the match.