Riding on Suryakumar Yadav's maiden IPL century, followed by an impressive show from their bowlers, Mumbai Indians (MI) registered a comfortable 27-run win over table-toppers Gujarat Titans (GT) on Friday night at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Batting first, Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan set the tone early on with their aggressive approach. But Rashid threatened to steal the game, claiming his four-wicket haul (4/30). But Surya's unbeaten 103 off just 49 balls, laced with 11 boundaries and six maximums lifted MI to 218/5 in 20 overs.
In reply, GT did not get the much-needed start and were reduced to 48-3 in Powerplay. David Miller and Rahul Tewatia steadied things in the middle overs. But the Titans never got going in the chase as they lost wickets at regular intervals.
After his impressive bowling showcase, Rashid produced magic with the bat and kept the crowd entertained with his unbeaten 79 off 32. However, his late onslaught was not enough for the visitors as Gujarat could eventually reach 191/8 in 20 overs.
Surya Stars in Mumbai's Innings
Putting into bat first, MI got off to an electrifying start with the opening pair of skipper Rohit and Ishan dealing in sixes and fours, collecting 37 runs in the first three overs.
An over later, Rashid Khan almost trapped MI skipper as he appealed for caught behind but was turned down. GT captain Hardik Pandya immediately reviewed the decision. The UltraEdge though showed no spike as the ball passed the bat. The third umpire had a look at the lbw as well, and confirmed that the ball was missing the wickets.
Then, Ishan hammered two boundaries to take the Powerplay total to 61 for no loss.
Rashid bounced back after the break as he struck twice to dismiss both the MI openers and ended the 61-run stand in the seventh over to shift the momentum.
Rohit looked to block off the front foot but the ball turned away sharply before taking the outside edge, deflected off the keeper's pads, and Rahul Tewatia at first slip pouched it safely.
Then, the Afghan spinner removed Ishan through lbw. The opener tried to slog it away but was beaten by the turn. The ball went on to crash into the pads and after a loud appeal, the umpire raised his finger.
Nihal Wadhera started off with a classy shot that went for a boundary through mid-off and launched it straight back over the bowler's head for a maximum, taking 15 off the eight over.
The next over Rashid struck again and found his third victim in the form of Wadhera, who went on the back foot to cut but unfortunately, the ball got the inside edge and went on to hit the stumps. At the halfway mark, MI were 96 for the loss of three wickets.
Then, Vishnu Vinod and Suryakumar Yadav got into the rebuilding act with their attacking shots, collecting 55 runs in the next five overs and together stitched the 65-run fourth wicket stand.
Mohit Sharma bowled a brilliant 16th over and broke the dangerous-looking partnership by deceiving Vinod on a slower ball.
Surya began the 17th over with a square leg for boundary and completed his fifty. The same over Rashid claimed his fourth wicket as he caught and bowled Tim David cheaply for 5.
Surya continued with the onslaught as he took GT bowlers to cleaners and brought up his maiden IPL hundred with a six to deep square leg on the last ball and took MI to 218/5 in 20 overs.
Gujarat's Chase of 219
The Titans' chase got off to a shocking start as they lost three batters in three successive overs of the powerplay. Akash Madhwal drew the first blood in the second over, trapping Wriddhiman Saha lbw, but the opener reviewed it and UltraEdge showed that bat was not involved and MI got the first breakthrough.
The next over, Jason Behrendorff got the skipper Hardik Pandya caught behind. Then, Madhwal struck again in the third over and cleaned up Shubman Gill for 6, reducing GT to 26-3. Vijay Shankar found five boundaries in the next two overs to take the Powerplay total to 48-3.
After the time-out, Piyush Chawla came into the attack and cleaned up Shankar, who failed to read his googly and the ball went through to crash into the stump.
The next over another spinner Kumar Kartikeya cleaned up Abhinav Manohar and GT looked much in trouble as half of their batting lineup was sent back to the pavilion on the score of 59 in eight overs. Miller then injected momentum with maximum followed by two back-to-back boundaries, taking 18 runs off the over. The Titans were reeling 82-5 halfway through the chase.
When the asking run rate raced to over 14 runs per over, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia steadied the innings as they kept rotating the strike to keep the scoreboard reeling, and stitched a 45-run stand.
Madhwal showed great skills as he trapped Miller lbw on the last ball of the 12th over. On the next ball, Chawla joined the party and removed Tewatia. The Titans slipped further in the run chase with Kartikeya removing Noor Ahmad in the 14th over.
Then, Rashid Khan hammered two successive maximums to Kartikey. He continued with his hits, collecting 14 runs off the next over.
Rashid was single-handedly trying to take the game deep with his timely hits and brought up his maiden IPL fifty with a flat six in the 18th over. He heaved it across the line and sent the ball into the stands once again in the penultimate over.
There was just a formality left in the chase as 48 was needed in the final over, but Rashid was on his merry ways as he hammered three sixes to Katikeya during his late onslaught was enough for the visitors to save the match as MI sealed a win.
(With inputs from IANS)
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