 "Vijay Shankar and David Miller celebrate after the latter hit the winning six to help Gujarat Titans defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets. AP")
Gujarat Titans bounced back from their 63-run hammering at the hands of defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) with a morale-boosting seven-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) on Sunday.
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The two teams had entered the afternoon fixture of Sunday’s double-header with contrasting results in their previous outings; while GT had been outplayed by CSK in Chennai, Sunrisers Hyderabad inflicted a 31-run loss on Mumbai Indians after posting 277/3 on the board — breaking the record for the highest total in the history of the IPL.
Gujarat, however, have been among the most consistent teams since making their debut in 2022 and have been even more lethal on home turf. And they highlighted just that on Sunday by out-batting, out-bowling as well as out-fielding the Sunrisers at Ahmedabad’s Narendra Modi Stadium to collect their second win in three outings in the 17th season.
Here are some of the key moments from the 12th match of the season:
Rashid removes Klaasen, goes past Shami
Heinrich Klaasen played a central role in the Sunrisers posting a record total against Mumbai Indians with an unbeaten 80 off 34 balls, and was beginning to look threatening against the Titans on Sunday as well, smashing back-to-back maximums off Afghan left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad.
It took another Afghan spinner, a world-class one at that, for GT to get rid of Klaasen before the South African keeper-batter could cause any further damage as Rashid Khan breached his defence with a googly that slid through and crashed into the stumps, resulting in Klaasen getting dismissed for 24 off 13.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsIt was Rashid’s 49th wicket for the Gujarat Titans , taking him past senior India pacer Mohammed Shami and making him the leading wicket-taker for the franchise.
Mohit’s superb death bowling
While Rashid changed the course of the match with his dismissal of Klaasen followed by some disciplined bowling, it was senior pacer Mohit Sharma who ultimately ensured the Sunrisers fell well short of the 180-run mark that they would’ve hoped for with a superb haul of 3/25.
Two of those three wickets fell in back-to-back deliveries in the final over. Shahbaz Ahmed was dismissed on 22, getting caught near long on after getting a thick top-edge off a slower delivery. All-rounder Washington Sundar followed him to the dugout right after as he also perished to a slower ball, hitting it straight to deep midwicket. The icing on the cake was the fact that Mohit conceded just three runs in the final over.
Mohit was deservedly adjudged the Player of the Match for his haul that ensured Gujarat had a relatively easy task at hand during their chase.
Saha gets Titans off to a flier
While the target wasn’t a very tall one for Gujarat to chase, they would’ve been wary of the manner in which Mumbai Indians imploded while chasing a similar score last Sunday, that too after finding themselves in the driving seat at the halfway stage.
An early wicket or two certainly would’ve made things interesting and brought the Sunrisers back into the contest. Saha, though, put the visiting team under pressure right away with an explosive 25 off 13 deliveries that contained a four and two sixes, helping GT score at nine-an-over in the first five overs and go past the fifty-run mark inside the powerplay.
Miller finishes off in style
GT Impact Player Sai Sudharsan and David Miller would carry on from where Saha and skipper Shubman Gill left off, stitching a 64-run stand for the third wicket in seven overs to dash whatever little hopes SRH had left of turning things around in the middle overs after getting rid of the openers.
Sai Sudharsan was the more sedate of the two, playing the anchor’s role in his knock of 45 off 36 deliveries that contained four fours and a six before getting dismissed by Pat Cummins at the start of the 17th over.
Miller, who had smashed leg-spinner Mayank Markande for two fours and a six right before Sudharsan’s dismissal, would then take over and take his team home, finishing the game in style with a massive six off Jaydev Unadkat’s bowling at the start of the final over, remaining unbeaten on 44 off 27 deliveries.
What made it even more impressive was the fact that he was fighting extreme physical discomfort during his knock and was seen hobbling around while running between the wickets.