IPL 2023: Gujarat Put Up a Commanding Show in Big Win Over Mumbai Indians

Gujarat Titans have moved to the second position in the IPL standings, tied with league leaders CSK on 10 points.

(Photo: BCCI)

Hardik Pandya's Gujarat Titans put up an all-round show with the ball and bat to defeat Mumbai Indians by 55 runs on Tuesday night at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

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 and post 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 the victory.

With the two points from the win, Gujarat are now tied with league leaders Chennai Super Kings on 10 points but are placed second in the standings due to their net run rate. Mumbai Indians though are in a bit of a spot after the defeat, currently placed seventh with 6 points as all 10 teams have now completed their seventh matches of the season.

Rohit Put Gujarat In to Bat

A half-century from Subuman Gill (56 off 34) followed by a late onslaught by David Miller and Abhinav Manohar in the death overs guided Gujarat Titans to 207/6 after being put into bat first.

Even after Gill's fifty, Piyush Chawla and Kumar Karthikeya struck in the middle overs and pegged the Titans back but failed to ride the momentum. Manohar (42 off 21) and Miller (46 off 22) turned the tables with a 71-run partnership, while Rahul Tewatia gave the finishing touches with his unbeaten 20 off 5 as GT set a massive target for MI.

GT had a quiet start as they lost opener Wriddhiman Saha early. Disciplined bowling from Arjun Tendulkar and Jason Behrendorff kept the batters quiet as the visitors managed to get just three boundaries in the first five overs.

Arjun Tendulkar of Mumbai Indians celebrates the wicket of Wriddhiman Saha during the match against Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on the 25th April 2023

(Photo: BCCI)

Then, Shubman Gill shifted gears in the sixth over, hitting Cameron Green for back-to-back boundaries, followed by a six on the next ball and MI reached 50/1 in the Power-play.

After bowling a brilliant opening over, Arjun Tendulkar struck in the third over to remove Saha, who looked to pull it but missed as Ishan Kishan pouched it behind the stumps. Tendulkar made a loud appeal and the finger went up. Saha looked upset and went upstairs. But Ultra Edge showed a spike and MI got a breakthrough.

After an expensive sixth over, MI turned the screws as Chawla sent packing skipper Hardik Pandya for 13. Pandya lofted towards long on but failed to get the necessary elevation and Suryakumar Yadav took a sharp catch above his head.

After a few overs, Vijay Shankar smashed Kartikeya for four and a maximum on successive deliveries. Then, 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 of the innings.

An over later, Kartikeya provided MI with the much-needed breakthrough as he got dangerman Gill for 56. The opener looked to heave it but didn't get the power right. The ball was carried toward deep mid-wicket where SKY settled under it and made no mistake.

Then, Chawla piled further misery on the Titans as he sent Shankar back to the hut for 19. Manohar hammered two boundaries and a six off Chawla in the 15th over to give the much-needed acceleration to the run rate. In the 18th over, first Manohar took Green to the cleaners by smashing him for back-to-back sixes, then Miller joined the six-hitting party with a maximum off the last delivery, taking 22 off the over.

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.

Tewatia came started with a six. Meredith almost got Miller, who mistimed his shot, and Behrendorff ran to his left and got his hands on the ball, but it did not stick and landed beyond the rope. And Miller finished the penultimate over with another six.

Tewatia began the 20th and final over with back-to-back sixes 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.

Mumbai's Chase

Chasing the huge 208-run target, MI had a dismal start as they lost 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.