When it came time to bat, Gill led the way with a fine half-century as GT chased 154 in 19.5 overs, just four days after suffering a heartbreaking loss to Kolkata Knight Riders.
Mohit, who has also played for the Indian team, including in the World Cup, mixed his pace and lengths well throughout his spell after serving as the team’s net bowler last season.
Later, the young Gill demonstrated his talent once more with a quality innings that included seven fours and a six. From GT’s perspective, it was critical that Gill stayed until the end, especially after captain Hardik Pandya was dismissed with the team still 48 runs away from their third victory in 34 balls.
Matthew Short top-scored for PBKS with a 24-ball 36, but Masood Shahrukh Khan’s nine-ball 22 helped the team reach 150. GT got off to a fast start, scoring 56 points in six powerplay overs, with the Gill going off like a rocket.
Meanwhile, PBKS pacer Kagiso Rabada became the IPL’s fastest to 100 wickets when he caught Wriddhiman Saha (30 off 19 balls) at deep square leg off a short ball.
South Africa’s speedster reached the milestone in 64 games, six fewer than Lasith Malinga’s 70. Earlier, PBKS lost Prabhsimran Singh in the second ball of the over when his attempted flick off a length ball from Mohammed Shami went straight to Rashid Khan at short midwicket after the coin landed in favour of the returning GT skipper Hardik.
Prabhsimran left the game without scoring. Short came in at number three and made an immediate impact with a boundary, striking the ball through point. Short pulled the seasoned India seamer through the square leg region for another four when the next ball was short.
Joshua Little, who shared the new ball with Shami, was greeted with two boundaries by the in-form Shikhar Dhawan. While the first one was lofted over cover, Dhawan followed it up with a delightful shot, caressing the ball past mid-off in a high-class cover drive.
Short, who has done well for Australia’s Adelaide Strikers in the Big Bash League, took on Shami and hit him for back-to-back fours, including an authoritative boundary through mid-off.
However, just as PBKS appeared to be putting GT under pressure, Little made a huge breakthrough by dismissing the dangerous Dhawan (8), who came down the track to play the lofted shot but ended up giving a catch to Alzarri Joseph.
With PBKS’s score at 55 for three in the seventh over, the ever-dependable Rashid (1/26 in 4 overs) foxed a well-settled Short with a googly. Short had settled down nicely after hitting a flurry of fours and a massive six off Joseph, but he looked befuddled when Rashid decided to bowl the wrong’un.
Short’s dismissal threw PBKS off guard, and things got even more complicated when Jitesh Sharma (25 off 23 balls) was sent back by Mohit, thanks to some clever work by Wriddhiman behind the wickets.
After star leg-spinner Rashid missed his length, Sam Curran (22) hit a much-needed six u2013 a big maximum over deep midwicket. Sri Lankan Bhanuka Rajapaksa’s 26-ball 20 did not impress until his stay in the middle was cut short by Joseph.
Shahrukh Khan smashed the first ball he faced for a six over deep midwicket, followed by another six off Shami.
