At the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, Gujarat Titans secured their second victory of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 season by defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets. Veteran fast-bowler Mohit Sharma scored an outstanding 3-25, while young Sai Sudharsan and seasoned David Miller shared a vital 64-run partnership.
On a two-paced black soil field in the afternoon, Mohit was superb with his cutters and slower deliveries, showing tremendous control towards the finish of the innings to restrict SRH to a disappointing 162/8. Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, and Umesh Yadav all took one wicket apiece, providing him with strong support.
While Miller battled through leg pain to remain undefeated on 44 deliveries despite needing to chase 163, Sudarshan overcame a poor start on a two-paced pitch to reach 45 off 36 balls. The pair remained composed even when it appeared like SRH would have a tiny advantage in the middle overs to push GT over the boundary in the final across of the chase and give home teams an 11–12 victory in the match.
While GT’s top four batters made more than 25, SRH’s top seven batters all made more than 15, but none of them could reach thirty. Travis Head and Mayank Agarwal chose to bat first, and between them they hit five boundaries. However, in the fifth over, in an attempt to escape space, Agarwal swung his wicket and pulled it straight to deep square off Omarzai, going for a 17-ball 16.
Following a 16-ball fifty against the Mumbai Indians, Abhishek Sharma opened the innings with a pulled four against Omarzai. He then hit back-to-back sixes off Rashid to send SRH to 56/1 at the end of the Power-play.
However, GT recovered when Travis Head was dismissed for 19 off 14 balls after misfiring on a slog off Noor. After three overs, Abhishek was out for 29 off 20 balls after mistiming a punch meant to cover off Mohit, all while Noor was keeping things tight.
Heinrich Klaasen, who was in fine form, got off to a grand start by skirting an on-pads delivery from Noor for four. He then clubbed Noor for two consecutive sixes over the deep mid-wicket fence. His time in the sun came to an end at 24 off 13 balls as he was caught off guard trying to pull Rashid with a skiddy full delivery.
A moment later, Rashid dived in to complete a stunning catch, and Aiden Markram holed out to long-on off Umesh after his lofted on-drive was intercepted. During their important 45-run stand off 28 balls for the sixth wicket, Abdul Samad hammered four fours and Shahbaz Ahmed smacked well-timed sixes.
However, in the last over, Mohit conceded just three runs, with Ahmed holing out to long-on off a slower delivery and Impact Player Washington Sundar drawing straight to deep mid-wicket on consecutive deliveries. Samad was then run out after falling for a 14-ball 29.
Chasing 163, Wriddhiman Saha got off to a great start, making up for Shubman Gill’s sluggish start with two sixes and a four in the first four overs. However, Saha was dismissed by Shabhaz on the opening delivery in the fifth over as the batsman chipped to mid-on.
After scoring 11 runs in 12 balls, Gill proceeded to reach 36 from 27 deliveries by hitting four and six against Washington and Ahmed, respectively. However, Gill glided down the pitch to loft a googly from Mayank Markande on the first ball after the timeout, but he holed out to long-on to collapse from 36 off 28 balls.
Impact Players Sudharsan and Miller failed to advance past the middle overs, causing GT’s inability to accelerate to resurface. SRH bowlers countered their struggles by shifting pace and mixing up deliveries to hold the pair in check.
By hitting Jaydev Unadkat for four and opening the bat face late to guide a boundary off Pat Cummins wide of the diving short-third man, Sudharsan broke the chains. He then gave Washington another four to give GT’s pursuit some momentum.
Before the 16th over had started, Miller was at 13 off 16 balls. He overcame his poor start by perfectly splitting the space between long-on and deep mid-wicket for four, then dancing down the pitch to slash Markande over extra cover for six. Then, after dancing down the pitch to hit Markande for six, Miller lofted a second maximum to bring the pivotal 24-run over to a close.
Sudarshan’s slower delivery to mid-wicket gave Cummins a chance to change the game, but Miller made sure GT had the upper hand by taking two fours off Cummins: first, a draw through long leg, then a slap past an extra cover that was misfielded.
With five balls remaining, GT secured a convincing victory thanks to two consecutive boundaries from Vijay Shankar: a top-edge on a draw and a punch over mid-off. Miller then cashed in a six over long-off to cap up the chase.
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