Clinical Gujarat Titans outclass Mumbai Indians by 55 runs; ‘little disappointing,’ says Rohit Sharma

Gujarat Titans were four down with 101 on the scoreboard. At that point, it seemed that visitors Mumbai Indians would be able to restrict the home team. MI skipper Rohit Sharma, who had won the toss and elected to bowl first in the match 35 of the Indian Premier League, seemed to be happy with the way the match was going.

But soon, the tides turned and how! Some super-smashing batting by David Miller, Abhinav Manohar during the death overs guided GT to an impressive total of 207. Before this, Shubhman Gill’s 56 off 34 deliveries gave a good head start to the home team.

GT set a target of 208 for the five time champs MI. But the beginning of the chase was very sloppy for the visitors with Hardik Pandya sending back Rohit Sharma during the powerplay. MI failed to overcome this powerplay shock and kept losing critical wickets at regular intervals. Afghan bowlers – Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed – broke the back of MI’s batting lineup. Khan claimed key wickets of Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma in the same over. From there on, the IPL veterans didn’t manage a courageous comeback. Noor Ahmed’s 3/37 showed his super bowling attack.

Though Cameron Green, Nehal Wadhera showed some glimmer in those final moments, clinical GT dominated the match all along.

This is a big win for GT. The winning margin of 55 runs have helped them to improve their IPL rankings. Now, they are at number 2 in the PL points table. This also solidifies the playoff chances of the defending champs.
“It’s a little disappointing. We pretty much had control of the game till the last few overs when we went for too many runs. It’s just about execution,” MI skipper Rohit Sharma said at the post-match presentation ceremony.

(With PTI inputs)