Gujarat thump Mumbai to go second

The Gujarat Titans handed the Mumbai Indians a chastening defeat as the defending champions ousted the five-time winners by 59 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Shubman Gill, David Miller, and Abhinav Manohar led the charge for Gujarat with the bat, helping the team post a menacing total of 207 before spinners Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad demolished the Mumbai batting line-up in the chase.

Despite conceding a 200-plus score for the second match in a row, Mumbai started brightly in the powerplay as Arjun Tendulkar found some swing and pocketed Wriddhiman Saha early. The Mumbai bowlers kept things quiet in the first five overs of the powerplay, conceding just 33 runs, but Shubman Gill switched gears and went into attack mode in the sixth, smashing Cameron Green for three boundaries to bring up the team half-century.

Hardik Pandya perished on the first ball after the powerplay, failing to clear the ropes against Piyush Chawla, but Shubman Gill motored along to reach his third half-century of the season. The opener drove Chawla through the covers and carted Kumar Kartikeya for three boundaries, taking the Titans to 84 for 2 at the halfway stage. Gill’s half-century set the perfect platform for a grandstand finish for Gujarat, and David Miller and Abhinav Manohar carried the opener’s momentum after he holed out to long-on.

The pair capitalised on Mumbai’s inexperienced death bowling in the absence of Jofra Archer and carted 70 runs off the final four overs to take Gujarat above 200. The carnage started with Manohar creaming Chawla for three boundaries including a 97-metre six down the ground in the 15th over.

No Mumbai bowler was spared as Cameron Green and Riley Meredith leaked a trio of sixes against Miller and Manohar, while Rahul Tewatia also cleared the ropes twice in the final over from Behrendorff, taking GT to 207 for 6.

In response, Mumbai stumbled out of the gates as Rohit Sharma fell cheaply to Hardik Pandya in the second over, while Ishan Kishan struggled for fluency, managing just ten runs off his first 17 deliveries. Mumbai scored just 29 runs in the powerplay and the rising scoring pressure triggered a middle-order collapse, with the visitors losing four wickets for 16 runs through the middle. Rashid Khan outfoxed left-handers Ishan Kishan and Tilak Varma in the same over, while Noor Ahmad accounted for Australians Cameron Green and Tim David in the space of three deliveries.

Noor Ahmad picked up a third, dismissing Suryakumar Yadav for 23 to end MI’s hopes, and the visitors fell to an eventual 59-run defeat to remain in seventh spot in the table, while Gujarat pick up their fifth win to jump to second.