Gujarat Titans won the clash
Gujarat Titans (GT) beat SunRisers Hyderabad (SRH) by seven wickets in yesterday’s IPL 2024 game at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. Batting first after winning the toss, SRH posted a below par 162-8, which GT chased with ease in 19.1 overs. Experienced pacer Mohit Sharma was the star of the show for Gujarat Titans, claiming three wickets for 25 runs in four overs. He was adjourned as player of the match for his exceptional spell. As for SRH, their batters never quite got going, but many of them got starts.
Sunrisers Hyderabad batters disappointed
Mayank Agarwal (16) pulled one from Azmatullah Omarzai straight to deep square leg. Travis Head (19) was knocked over by a googly from Noor Ahmad, missing a slog sweep. Abhishek Sharma looked good for his 29 off 20 but sliced a slower ball from Mohit to extra cover. Heinrich Klaasen clobbered consecutive sixes off Noor in the 13th over, but he too couldn’t convert his start. The SRH batter was bowled by Rashid Khan for 24 off 13, missing a heave off the leg-spinner. Aiden Markram perished for 17 to Umesh Yadav before cameos from Abdul Samad (29 off 14) and Shahbaz Ahmed (22 off 20) took SunRisers Hyderabad past 160.
Gujarat eased the chase
Chasing 163, Gujarat Titans got off to a brisk start, with their openers adding 36 in 4.1 overs. The partnership ended when Wriddhiman Saha (25 off 13) chipped a catch of Shahbaz towards mid-on. GT captain Shubman Gill looked good for his 36 off 28 but holed out to long-on, miscuing an attempted big hit off Mayank Markande. Sai Sudharsan (45 off 36) and David Miller (44* off 27) added 64 for the third wicket as Gujarat Titans cruised towards victory. The duo combined to take 24 runs off the 16th over off Markande as Miller struck two fours and a six, while Sudharsan also chipped in with a maximum. The latter holed out to deep midwicket off Pat Cummins in the 17th over. Miller brought up victory for GT in emphatic fashion, lofting the first ball of the 20th over from Jaydev Unadkat for a maximum over long-off.
Mohit Sharma was once again the crisis man for GT
“Thank you sir for reminding me that I’m getting older day by day. Practice is normal but the important thing is how to use the variation according to the game situation. Bowlers do have variations but it matters when and how to use it. It’s important when you have two balls in mind, the batters are also ready, they are ready for the slower bouncer , but they are not ready for the slower short ball wide of the wicket so I mix and match. Dew is uncontrollable and we practice bowling with wet ball. When it’s going good, I enjoy. When the match gets over , I like to reflect where I did well and where I didn’t. Rashid and Noor bowled well, we went for a few runs in the back end but we came back well in the final few overs”, Mohit said in post match interview.
Kevin Varchand