Vijay Shankar of Gujarat Titans (GT) was in prime form on April 9, 2023, as he hammered Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowler Shardul Thakur for three maximums in a row in their encounter at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Gujarat Titans came into this match unbeaten in their previous two encounters, while KKR had won one and lost one in their two matches. Meanwhile, Rashid Khan came out for the toss as Hardik Pandya, the regular GT captain missed out due to illness.
Rashid Khan won the toss and decided to bat first. Wriddhiman Saha made 17 in 17 and Shubman Gill scored 39. However, Sunil Narine rattled the Gujarat batting removing both openers in quick succession.
On the other hand, Suyash Sharma continued to impress, by taking the wicket of Abhinav Manohar who made 14 runs in 8 balls.
Then Sai Sudharsan (53 in 38 balls) departed on the bowling of Sunil Narine, caught by Anukul Roy.
Vijay Shankar Smashes Bowlers To All Parts Of Ahmedabad Ground; Hits Three Sixes In Three Balls Off Shardul Thakur
However, it was Vijay Shankar who decided to open his arms and began hitting sixes and fours at will as Gujarat inched towards a 200 plus total. He remained unbeaten on 63 in just 24 balls and hit 5 sixes and 4 fours in his knock.
He had smacked Lockie Ferguson for 2 fours and one six in the 19th over of the GT innings. Many expected experienced Umesh Yadav to bowl the tough final over, but Nitish Rana, the KKR captain gave the ball to Shardul Thakur.
While he started off well giving away one run in his first two balls, Vijay Shankar took Shardul Thakur to cleaners in the next three balls, as all of them crossed the boundary line on the full. The first six was leathered over the deep mid-wicket as Shankar reached his fifty.
The next six went sailing over the long on fielder and the third six was hit off a rank half-tracker and Shankar pulled the ball with full force over the fence.
Here is the video of all three sixes:
A hat-trick of MAXIMUMS, ft. @vijayshankar260 ? ?
Relive those SIXES ? #TATAIPL | #GTvKKR | @gujarat_titans pic.twitter.com/nnRwMh3LtJ
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) April 9, 2023