Sai Sudharsan, Prasidh Krishna consign MI to big defeat

On a black-soil pitch in Ahmedabad where 180 was expected to be the par score, Gujarat Titans (GT) posted 196 for 8 after being put in. It proved to be 36 too many for Mumbai Indians (MI), who, despite Hardik Pandya's return after an over-rate ban, were found lacking in all three departments.

While it was not a perfect game for GT either, they did most things right, including selecting a slow surface for this game, as their assistant and batting coach Parthiv Patel revealed during an in-game interview. Their main concern seemed to be B Sai Sudharsan leaving the field clutching his left hamstring after a diving effort. But Shubman Gill later said that it was merely cramps.

Before the start of the season, Gill had said he wanted GT to do as much as possible in the powerplay; they were the slowest side in that phase last season with a run rate of 7.72. Both Gill and Sudharsan did their best to improve that number. Each scored 32 off 18 balls in the first six overs and took the side to 66 for no loss. It was their third-highest powerplay score in the IPL. For Gill and Sudharsan, it was their fifth 50-plus stand in five innings of opening together in T20s.

Once the field restrictions were relaxed, MI pulled things back. They conceded only 13 in the next three overs and dismissed Gill. It was a short ball from Hardik and Gill pulled it straight to Naman Dhir at deep square-leg. Hardik has now dismissed Gill four times in 18 balls in T20s while giving away just 11 runs.

Jos Buttler ended the boundary drought by hitting Mitchell Santner for a six and a four off successive balls in the tenth over. He hit a boundary in each of the next four overs as well, but Mujeeb Ur Rahman ended his stay on 39.

Sudharsan kept GT going for a while. He brought up his second fifty in as many games, off 33 balls, and took the side to 170 for 3 after 17 overs. But GT collapsed after that. On the last ball of the 18th over, Trent Boult trapped Sudharsan lbw with a yorker, Rahul Tewatia was run out on the first of the 19th, and Sherfane Rutherford holed out to deep extra-cover the following ball. Despite Rashid Khan and Kagiso Rabada hitting a six each, GT could manage only 26 in the last three.

Coming into this game, Mohammed Siraj had conceded 74 runs off 55 balls to Rohit Sharma in ten T20 innings without ever dismissing him. Rohit looked set to extend that record when he hit Siraj for two fours in the first three balls of the chase. But Siraj finally had his man two balls later with a scrambled-seam delivery. It cut Rohit in half and hit the stumps.

Tilak Varma attacked straightaway and hit Rabada for 4, 4, 6 off successive balls in the next over. But Ryan Rickelton was struggling at the other end. In the fifth over, he tried to smash Siraj only to get an inside edge onto his stumps. MI ended the powerplay on 48 for 2.

After that blazing start, Tilak slowed down considerably, but Suryakumar Yadav kept MI in the game. Facing just his second ball, he brought out the supla shot to hit Siraj over fine leg for a six. Not long after, he meted out the same punishment to Ishant Sharma.

R Sai Kishore was not spared either. He beat Suryakumar in flight, but the batter still hit him over extra cover for a six. Suryakumar and Tilak added 62 off 42 balls for the third wicket in which the latter's contribution was 21 off 22.

MI needed 100 from the last nine overs with eight wickets in hand - far from an unachievable task. But the slower balls were gripping in the surface. Hardik had used this ploy in the first innings, and Prasidh Krishna did the same for GT. Introduced in the 12th over, he had Tilak caught at wide long-on with a slower short ball. When Suryakumar tried to counter that tactic with the supla, he gloved it on to his helmet.

Hardik was booed at this very venue in IPL 2024 for having left GT for MI the previous season before coming back. Tonight, when he came out to bat, the crowd chanted his name. But it was not easy for a new batter to score freely. With Hardik struggling and the asking rate climbing, Suryakumar decided to attack Prasidh but holed out to long-off. This, too, was a slower ball. How slow? Just 97.1kph.

When Rabada dismissed Hardik in the next over, which went for just four, MI's hopes were buried. They needed 73 from the last three overs. While Dhir and Santner hit four fours and two sixes between them, the task was virtually insurmountable.