An in-shape Surja once again lit up Wankhede as his breathtaking effort helped Mumbai secure their seventh win of the season. After a sizzling 83 in the final match against Royal Challengers Bangalore, local lad Surya took his innings even higher, firing a stunning 103 not off just 49 balls.
Taking the Titans bowlers to the cleaners, an unstoppable Surya single-handedly propelled the hosts to an impressive 218 for five after the Gujarat skipper Hardik Pandya asked Mumbai to bat first. In reply, the Titans’ batting department floundered together as a unit, but Rashid Khan’s unbeaten blitz of 32 balls and 79 saved them from an embarrassing defeat.
While Suryakumar played a one-innings blinder that was studded with 11 fours and six sixes, Rohit Sharma (29), Ishan Kishan (31) and Vishnu Vinod (30) contributed for the home side.
Chasing 219, GT was in danger of being run out for a low total, but a brutal unbeaten 79 off just 32 balls from Rashid – who had three fours and 10 sixes – slashed the margin of defeat drastically.
It happened
For Mumbai, Akash Madhwal (4-0-31-3), Kumar Kartikeya (3-0-37-2) and veteran Piyush Chawla (4-0-36-2) produced a superb display with the ball.
But the indomitable Rashid was simply unstoppable. He followed up his superb bowling effort of 4/30 in the MI innings with a stunning display with the bat as he added 88 runs from only 40 balls for the untaken 9th wicket with Alzarri Joseph (7 not out), but the his effort was not enough. Enough.
GT’s fourth defeat in 12 games was their first on the road this season.
With eight wins and 16 points, they remained top of the table.
MI’s seventh win in 12 games then moved them back to third place with 14 points and a -0.117 net run rate.
Gujarat Titans made the worst possible start. Coming off fine 81 in his last out, Wriddhiman Saha bowled one over the line to be ruled LBW for 2 by Madhwal, while captain Hardik Pandya (4) was caught behind Jason Behrendorff in the third over.
The in-form Shubman Gill (6) was also beaten by Madhwal’s slippery pace, which spun the wheel of the opening stump.
With the task of rebuilding falling to their shoulders, Miller started off cautious as Vijay Shankar unleashed a flurry of fours.
After the powerplay GT had cleared 48 off target, but a heavy blow was delivered by Chawla, who ran a googly between the bat and Shankar’s pad to crash into his own wickets. In 14 balls, Shankar did well to hit six fours to make 29.
Kartikeya next cleared Abhinav Manohar (2), leaving the visitors reeling to 55 for 5 in eight overs.
Miller (41 from 26 balls) added 45 runs for the sixth wicket off Rahul Tewatia (14) to help GT level off but was unable to spearhead a comeback for his side.
In the twelfth over, Madhwal’s slippery pace once again found another victim when Miller fell first.
In the next, Tewatia took a straight one to Cameron Green with a deep square leg.
Earlier India and MI skipper Rohit failed to convert his start but appeared to be back to his usual crease self, hitting some exquisite shots in his 61-run opening stand in the powerplay with Ishan Kishan (31) to lay the platform for a large total.
Rashid, who took his overall wicket count to a bowling-topping 23, shook MI straight after the powerplay to make Rohit take in the first miss for an 18-ball 29, which included three fours and a pair of sixes .
The second turn came four balls later, with the Afghan leg-spinner trapping Kishan LBW.
Rashid continued to make his way as Nehal Wadhera (15) cut one off his own wickets, but MI’s acceleration was enough to take them to 96 for three at the halfway point.
Suryakumar and Vinod then attacked Mohammed Shami (0/53), hitting him for 15 runs in the 13th over, before the two batsmen hit Joseph for a six each in the 12th over.
Vinod died in the 16th over when he hit a full bowl from Mohit to be dismissed for a fine of 30 off 20 balls (2×4, 2×6), after putting on a 42-ball 65 for the fourth wicket with Suryakumar.
Rashid however continued to chip as he snapped Tim David’s key wicket (5) in the 17th over, taking an easy return catch for his fourth wicket in the game.
But Suryakumar continued with his flurry of shots at the other end, hitting Mohit for 20 runs in the 18th over with three fours and a six and knocked off his first IPL career century with a six off the last ball of the innings .
In the process, Suryakumar also made a further 54 runs for 6th wicket off Cameron Green (3 not out), who only got 18 balls.
(With inputs from PTI)
