Ahmedabad, April 26 (IANS) Riding on an incredible batting display followed by a classy show with the ball, Gujarat Titans registered a clinical 55-run win over Mumbai Indian in their IPL 2023 match at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Tuesday.
With this win, the Titans jumped to the second spot with 10 points on the points table while MI are placed seventh with eight points in seven games.
A half-century from Shubman Gill (56 off 34) followed by a late onslaught by Manohar (42 off 21) and Miller (46 off 22), who shared a 71-run partnership, helped Titans recover from a poor start. Rahul Tewatia gave the finishing touches to the innings with his unbeaten 20 off 5 as GT posted 207/6 in their 20 overs.
Afghanistan spinners Rashid Khan (2-27) and Noor Ahmad (3-37) starred with the ball as Gujarat Titans restrict Mumbai Indians to 152/9 and sealed a comprehensive victory by 55 runs.
Chasing the huge 208-run target, MI had a dismal start as they lost the skipper Rohit Sharma cheaply for four in the Power-play. Rohit tried to flick on the leg-side, but got a leading edge of the bat, the ball chipped back to the bowler and Hardik Pandya completed the catch.
Titans’ bowlers continued to keep the run rate in check from the beginning of the chase except in the fourth over when Hardik Pandya conceded two big hits from Cameron Green as Mumbai managed to score just 29 runs and lost a crucial wicket of their skipper in the Power-play.
Then, Rashid Khan’s double strike in the eighth over put a further dent in MI’s run chase. The leg-spinner first removed Ishan Kishan for 13 then he trapped Impact Player Tilak Verma with his googly for lbw, and MI were reeling at 45/3 in eight overs.
Skipper Pandya rotated his bowler smartly and kept a tight hold on the match as MI were reeling 58/3 at the halfway stage through the chase and the asking run rate climbed to over 15 runs per over.
Noor Ahmad then caused further misery to Mumbai Indians when he sent Cameron Green packing for 33 and a dot ball later removed Tim David for a duck and half of the Mumbai side was back in the pavilion with 59 runs on the board in 11 overs.
Suryakumar smashed Rashid for two boundaries and six in the 12th over and Nehal Wadhera joined the party as he hit a couple of boundaries and a maximum in the next overs before Ahmad caught and bold SKY on the last ball of the over, making the chase even tougher for MI.
Thanks to a few big overs, Mumbai Indians collected 83 runs in between 7 and 15 overs and the equation was 96 needed in 30 balls to win for Mumbai.
Wadhera and Piyush Chawla stood firm and tried to put up a fight as they established a 45-run partnership before the latter got run out in an 18th over. The same over saw Wadhera’s 40-run innings coming to an end when the batter mistimed a scoop shot and the ball went straight to fine leg fielder.
Though the win was impossible for MI, Arjun Tendulkar went for a six in the final over before falling on the fourth ball of the over and Titans sealed a massive 55-run win.
Earlier, put in to bat first, GT had a quiet start as they lost opener Wriddhiman Saha early. Disciplined bowling from Arjun Tendulkar and Jason Behrendorff kept the batters quiet before Gill shifted gears in the sixth over, hitting Cameron Green for back-to-back boundaries, followed by a six on the next ball taking Titans to 50/1 in the Power-play.
After an expensive sixth over, MI turned the screws as Chawla sent packing skipper Hardik Pandya for 13. Soon, Gill collected a boundary and completed his 17th IPL fifty with a single off 30 balls and GT were 84/2 at the halfway stage.
Kartikeya provided MI with the much-needed breakthrough as he got dangerman Gill out for 56. Then, Chawla piled further misery on the Titans as he sent Vijay Shankar back to the hut for 19.
Miller and Manohar accelerated the innings with their hits and the duo collected 42 runs in the next three overs and stitched a stunning 71-run partnership off 35 balls, which Meredith broke in the next over as he trapped Manoher with his full toss.
But Miller and Rahul Tewatia continued the onslaught. The latter smacked two more sixes in the last over and a delivery later Behrendorff removed Miller to deny him a half-century and Rashid Khan finished the innings with a double as the Titans posted 207 for the loss of six wickets.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 207/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 56, David Miller 46, Abhinav Monahar 42; Piyush Chawla 2-34) beat Mumbai Indians 152/9 in 20 overs (Cameron Green 33, Nehal Wadhera 40; Noor Ahmad 3-27, Rashid Khan 2-27, Mohit Sharma 2-38) by 55 runs
–IANS
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