In the fifth match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024, Gujarat Titans (GT) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by six runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
MI skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and asked GT to field first. GT got off to a decent start, with Shubman Gill (31) and Wriddhiman Saha (19) hitting a few boundaries right away from the first over. It was all going well until Jasprit Bumrah came to bowl and struck Saha’s wicket in his first over. Sai Sudharsan (41) drew the Gujarat-based side back into the game and was looking well to score big, but once again Bumrah pressed the brake on his knock. Azmatullah Omarzai (17) and David Miller (12) also contributed a few runs, but it was Rahul Tewatia‘s (22) important cameo, that took GT to 168 runs. It was clearly the Bumrah effect that the side finished below par after 20 overs.
A low score is always a tricky one to chase. MI lost Ishan Kishan‘s wicket on the first delivery itself. Rohit Sharma (43) played a diligent knock and was all set to bat deep and take MI home. Nonetheless, unfortunately, he got out in the 13th over, where the game started to shift towards GT’s way slowly. Dewald Brevis (46) also had a handy knock but later got out at the very wrong time. Hardik Pandya (11) was the last hope for MI fans, but even he got out in the final over. From 129/4 to 150/7 and later 160/9, the unit kept losing wickets, thus losing the match in the final over.
It was an all-round effort by the Gujarat-based bowlers, as almost every bowler, except Rashid Khan, had their name in the wickets column. While Omarzai, Umesh Yadav, Spencer Johnson, and Mohit Sharma bagged two wickets each. One wicket each was also taken by Sai Kishor.
Jasprit Bumrah had an excellent comeback to the IPL as he made a handy contribution with the ball. The Ahmedabad-born bowler secured three wickets at an economy rate of just 3.5. Gerald Coetzee also plucked two wickets, while one wicket was also taken by Piyush Chawla.
Sai Sudharsan was adjudged Player of the Match for his outstanding batting show. Following this win, GT have obtained their maiden two points of the IPL 2024.
Scorecard:
Gujarat Titans: 168/6, Overs 20, Sai Sudharsan 45, Jasprit Bumrah 3/14
Mumbai Indians: 162/9, Overs 20, Dewald Brevis 46, Spencer Johnson 2/25