The Hindu (Thiruvananthapuram)
Titans keep their nerve, MI loses its poise and the plot
Sai Sudharsan guides the home team to a respectable total despite Bumrah’s brilliant spell of three for 14; Hardik’s men undergo a scarcely believable downturn to crash to a sixrun defeat
Shubman Gill passed his first captaincy test as Gujarat Titans eked out a nervous sixrun win over Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday.
Pursuing 169, MI was coasting along at 107 for two after 12 overs. But Sai Kishore trapping Rohit Sharma (43, 29b, 7x4, 1x6) legbefore and Mohit Sharma sending back Dewald Brevis (46, 38b, 2x4, 3x6) and Tim David triggered a scarcely believable downturn.
It wasn’t as if there was no life left in MI. When 27 runs were needed from 12 balls, Tilak Varma sent Spencer Johnson soaring over longon to raise hopes only for the leftarmer to account for both Tilak and Gerald Coetzee the same over.
With 19 needed from six, Hardik Pandya — who was mildly booed on the day by the 80,000strong crowd — appeared to have turned the tie when he smashed Umesh Yadav for a six and a four. But he holed out to longon off the next ball to effectively hand GT the win.
Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah’s sensational return to IPL (3/14) had ensured that GT would end up with only a moderately challenging score. He prised out Wriddhiman Saha (19, 15b, 4x4) with a splendid yorker; foxed David Miller with a slower delivery before sending back the set B. Sai Sudharsan (45, 39b, 3x4, 1x6).
But a blazing start from Saha and Gill (31, 22b, 3x4, 1x6), some middleorder consolidation from Azmatullah Omarzai and Sai Sudharsan and an endovers flourish from Rahul Tewatia (22, 15b, 2x4, 1x6) kept GT in the hunt.
There was a time when GT seemed set to finish with an underpar total as Sai Sudharsan couldn’t accelerate, Miller was dismissed and the side was reduced to 134 for five. With not many boundaries, it was a canine intruder that
GUJARAT TITANS
Wriddhiman Saha b Bumrah 19 (15b, 4x4), Shubman Gill c Rohit b Chawla 31 (22b, 3x4, 1x6), B. Sai Sudharsan c Tilak b Bumrah 45 (39b, 3x4, 1x6), Azmatullah Omarzai c Tilak b Coetzee 17 (11b, 1x4, 1x6), David Miller c Hardik b Bumrah 12 (11b, 1x4),
Vijay Shankar (not out) 6 (5b),
Rahul Tewatia c Dhir b Coetzee 22 (15b, 2x4, 1x6), Rashid Khan (not out) 4 (3b); Extras (lb4, nb1, w7): 12; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 168.
FALL OF WICKETS
131 (Saha, 3.6 overs), 264 (Gill, 7.4), 3104 (Omarzai, 11.6), 4133 (Miller, 16.1), 5134 (Sai Sudharsan, 16.3), 6161 (Tewatia, 19.1).
MUMBAI INDIANS BOWLING
Hardik 30300, Luke Wood 20250, Bumrah 40143,
Mulani 30240, Chawla 30311, Dhir 10130, Coetzee 40272.
MUMBAI INDIANS
Ishan Kishan c Saha b Omarzai 0 (4b), Rohit Sharma lbw b Sai Kishore 43 (29b, 7x4, 1x6), Naman Dhir lbw b Omarzai 20 (10b, 3x4, 1x6), Dewald Brevis (Impact Player in place of Wood) c&b Mohit 46 (38b, 2x4, 3x6), Tilak Varma c sub (Abhinav) b Johnson held up play for nearly five minutes in the 14th over that received the loudest cheers.
But Tewatia ensured it was not all gloom, caning leftarm pacer Luke Wood 25 (19b, 1x4, 1x6), Tim David c Miller b Mohit 11 (10b, 1x4), Hardik Pandya c Tewatia b Umesh 11 (4b, 1x4, 1x6), Gerald Coetzee c & b Johnson 1 (3b), Shams Mulani (not out) 1 (1b), Piyush Chawla c Rashid b Umesh 0 (1b), Jasprit Bumrah (not out) 1 (1b); Extras (w3): 3; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 162.
FALL OF WICKETS
10 (Kishan, 0.4), 230 (Dhir, 2.6), 3107 (Rohit, 12.1), 4129 (Brevis, 15.5), 5142 (David, 17.6), 6148 (Tilak, 18.2), 7150 (Coetzee, 18.6), 8160 (Hardik, 19.3), 9160 (Chawla, 19.4).
TITANS BOWLING Omarzai 30272, Umesh 30312, Rashid 40230, Sai Kishore 40241, Johnson 20252, Mohit (Impact Player in place of Sai Sudharsan) 40322.
Toss: MI.
PoM: Sai Sudharsan.
GT won by six runs. for a six and two fours in the 18th over.
A stunning diving catch in the deep from Naman Dhir sent him back but not before the southpaw had done his job.