Ahmedabad, Apr 26 (FN Agency) Another clinical day at the office for the Gujarat Titans against Mumbai Indians as they ascended to the second spot in the points table after winning Tuesday’s match by 55 runs. Sent into bat, Gujarat posted 207/6 and in reply, Mumbai managed 152/9 at Narendra Modi Stadium here in the city. After an early wicket, skipper Hardik Pandya walked in at No.3 and mounted a crucial partnership alongside Shubman Gill. The innings gained some crucial momentum in the sixth over with Gill’s aggressive intent accumulating 17 runs.After Hardik’s dismissal, Gill and Vijay Shankar kept the scorecard ticking. Young batsman brought up yet another half-century, his 20th in T20 cricket, once again proving his credentials as one of the best Indian batsmen at present.
There were some alarm bells shortly when both the set batsmen, Gill and Shankar, walked back in quick succession. While one would’ve expected David Miller and Abhinav Manohar to approach this situation with a bit of caution, they went hell for leather. Manohar exhibited some fantastic power-hitting, clearing his front-leg and smacking it out of the park with ease. Miller joined the party soon as well, with the duo smashing 22 runs off Cameron Green in the 18th over.After Manohar was dismissed for a well-compiled 42 off 21 deliveries, Rahul Tewatia walked and hit it out of the park on the first delivery. He smacked another couple of them in the final over, finishing with 207/6 in 20 overs. Gujarat amassed 77 runs in the last five overs, taking us to their highest total in IPL. After the break, Hardik provided a terrific start, getting the better of his opposite number, Rohit Sharma.
Mohammad Shami and Hardik kept it very tight in the powerplay, conceding just 29 runs and the pressure paid off immediately after Rashid Khan came into the attack. In the eighth over, he sent back Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma in quick succession to take over the Purple Cap. Another mystery spinner Noor Ahmad worked his magic as well soon, dismissing the dangerous duo of Cameron Green and Tim David in a space of two deliveries. Noor, who completed 50 T20 wickets on the day, also got the wicket of Suryakumar Yadav off the final ball of his spell. Nehal Wadhera and Piyush Chawla’s partnership delayed Gujarat’s winning moment, but there were too many runs in the bank and they took home two more points. Brief Scores Gujarat Titans 207/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 56, David Miller 46, Abhinav Manohar 42) beat Mumbai Indians 152/9 in 20 overs (Nehal Wadhera 40, Noor Ahmad 3/37, Rashid Khan 2/27)