A masterclass in death bowling ensured that Gujarat Titans came from behind to pouch a six-run victory over Mumbai Indians – their third against the opposition at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Needing 42 off the last six overs with 7 wickets in hand, Mumbai Indians lost their way completely as Gujarat stuck to their plans.

Nearly all of Shubman Gill’s death bowlers packed a punch with the tone set by veteran Mohit Sharma. With his back-of-the hand slower ones gripping well on a sticky pitch, Mohit proved hard to hit. He first had Dewald Brevis caught and bowled and then bounced Tim David out to have him caught in the deep splendidly by an athletic David Miller. With 39 needed off the last three overs, Tilak Varma proceeded to deny singles off Rashid Khan’s final over with David for company. The spinner did not give away any boundaries in the over adding to the pressure building. Spencer Johnson, bowling the penultimate over, gave away a six off his first ball but came back in style. He had Varma caught at fine leg and then had Gerald Coetzee caught and bowled.

The last-man standing between the Titans and victory turned out to be their former skipper Hardik Pandya, who had delayed his entry. Pandya smacked a six and a four off the first two balls bowled by Umesh Yadav to bring the equation down to 9 off four. But he then fell trying to pull a short ball to be caught at long on, signaling the final nail in the coffin and sealing Mumbai’s rapid downward slide after a breezy start.

After a four-ball duck for Ishan Kishan, MI’s chase was first put on course by a breezy 10-ball 20 from Naman Dhir coming in at No. 3. Thereafter Rohit Sharma and Brevis found the going easy in dewy conditions as they added a quickfire 77-run stand. Gujarat’s standout bowler in this period turned out to be left-arm spinner Sai Kishore who finished with 1/24 in his four overs. He also picked up the wicket of Rohit, out LBW on the sweep, to kickstart a stunning turnaround.

The bowlers ensured that they made a middling total look far more than it was.

The pitch did not hold too many demons, albeit gripping slightly for the spinners. Plenty of Gujarat batters got off to starts but could not convert them into bigger ones. Sai Sudharsan knocked his way to 45 while Shubman Gill hit three fours and a six in his 31. Gujarat depended on one of their top order batters to carry through after getting their eye in.

Because of the brilliance of Jasprit Bumrah, mainly, the pacer finished with figures of 3-14 and applied the brakes with crucial strikes. Showcasing a full range of his skills, Bumrah first had Wriddhiman Saha bowled for 19 with a booming yorker. He then proceeded to outfox David Miller with a slower one and a ball later had the well-set Sudharsan caught in the deep. With that he ensured that Gujarat’s momentum was constantly nipped in the bud. It continued so in the death overs.

MI’s newest recruit, pacer Gerald Coetzee, was saved up for the second half of the innings fully. It worked well as Coetzee first had an attacking Azmatullah Omarzai caught while trying to hit off a hard length. At the back-end, Gujarat threatened to get more than they eventually would when Rahul Tewatia tore into Luke Wood. The 18th over of the innings went for 19 runs with Tewatia hitting the straps. But Bumrah and Coetzee gave away only 12 in the last two overs with Coetzee snapping up Tewatia as well.

The plans that new captain Hardik Pandya brought in worked pretty much to a tee but that was not enough to win over the crowd.

The former Gujarat Titans title-winning captain moved to Mumbai Indians on a transfer and it seemingly hasn’t gone down well with at least a part of the fans in the stadium. Hardik was welcomed with boos at the toss and at various points during the match. Returning to bowling in the tournament, he ended up giving away 30 runs in his three overs. He came close to turning it around with the bat but to no avail.

Brief Scores:
Gujarat Titans 168/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 31, Sai Sudharsan 45, Rahul Tewatia 22; Jasprit Bumrah 3-14, Piyush Chawala 1-31, Gerald Coetzee 2-27) beat  Mumbai Indians 162/9 in 20 overs (Nahman Dhir 20, Dewald Brevis 46, Rohit Sharma 43, Tilak Varma 25; Azmatullah Omarzai 2-27,  Umesh Yadav 2-31, Spencer Johnson 2-25, Mohit Sharma 2-32, Ravisrinivasan  Sai Kishore 1-24)  by 6 runs

(Cricbuzz)