Gujarat Titans lost their IPL 2025 season opener against Punjab Kings by 11 runs on Tuesday (Mar 25) in a huge chase of 244. Titans gave it all while trying to compensate for bowlers but eventually fell short and managed 232/5. Titans skipper Shubman Gill reflected on the loss and said that middle overs and lack of runs in the first few overs caused them the game.

Advertisment

"We got our chances when we were bowling and batting. Too many runs we conceded in the back end of the innings. Those three overs in the middle, we scored around 18 runs. That, and our first three overs we didn't score many runs. That cost us the game. Apart from that, many positives for us today," said Gill to broadcasters after the game.

Also Read: '47 off 23 balls': Bought at 13 times of base price, PBKS Gen Z batter Priyansh Arya sparks on IPL debut

Punjab Kings were well supported by skipper Shreyas Iyer's unbeaten 97 off 42. He sacrificed his century for maximum innings total and Shashank Singh paid the faith with five fours in last over - finished 44 off 16 balls. At the top, debutant Priyansh Arya scored a sparkling 47 off 23 balls.

Advertisment

"Ecstatic, to be honest. Getting 97 not out in the first match is always the icing on the cake. No better feeling to be honest. It was important for me to go ahead and adapt. I got four off the first ball, and that gave an immense boost. That flicked six off Rabada - I think the momentum changed," said Iyer off his innings.

While chasing, GT were going good with 145/2 at 12.3 overs after scoring 61 in first six overs. Sai Sudharsan got out after scoring 74 off 41 balls and a bit of slowdown followed. Jos Buttler, who went on to score 54 off 33, and Sherfane Rutheford (46 off 28) took them to almost 199 in 18 overs.

With two overs remaining, the task was hard and Vijaykumar Vyshak gave 19 runs in the penultimate over - leaving 27 for Arshdeep Singh in the last over which the India pacer defended successfully.