CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – Defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) jumped to the second spot on the points table as they defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) by 55 runs in match 35 of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
After an incredible batting display, GT backed it up with a classy show with ball in hand as Shami and Hardik stifled MI right from the start while Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad then ran through the middle order, picking up five wickets between them.
After that, it was all just merely a formality, even as Nehal Wadhera played an enterprising knock of 40 and Piyush Chawla hit a few boundaries.
The pressure was building, and it brought rewards as Rashid sent back Ishan Kishan (13) in the eighth over and three balls later, he trapped Impact Player Tilak Varma LBW via a successful review as MI were pushed on the back foot reaching 58 for three at the halfway mark.
Ahmad added further misery for the former champions as he cleaned up Cameron Green (33) in the next over and had Tim David to reduce the visitors to 59 for five.
With the required run-rate creeping over 18, Wadhera and Chawla got together and tried to put up a fight with a 24-ball 45-run stand but with 73 needed off 18, Chawla departed, run-out, trying to run through for a bye.
Wadhera departed in the same over, mistiming his scoop to short fine leg, off Mohit Sharma. It was always going to be an uphill battle as MI kept losing regular wickets and they eventually fell well short of the victory target.
Earlier, Shubman Gill’s counterattacking knock helped the Titans amass their highest total in the IPL as he brought up his third half century of the season from 30 balls after they were put into bat.
Man-of-the-Match Abhinav Manohar, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia then amped it up at the death overs as MI conceded 70 runs in the last four – the most by any team in IPL 2023.
Chief scores
Gujarat Titans: 207/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 56, David Miller 46, Abhinav Manohar 42, Rahul Tewatia 20 n.o, Piyush Chawla 2/34)
Mumbai Indians: 152/9 in 20 overs (Cameron Green 33, Suryakumar Yadav 23, Nehal Wadhera 40, Rashid Khan 2/27, Noor Ahmad 3/37, Mohit Sharma 2/38).