Hardik Pandya and Shubman Gill© X (formerly Twitter)
Umesh Yadav remained calm and picked up two wickets in the final over of the match to guide Gujarat Titans to a brilliant win over Mumbai Indians in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 match on Sunday. With 19 runs needed in the last over, skipper Hardik Pandya hit a six and a four off the first two balls to give his team the advantage. However, he eventually lost his wicket on the third delivery and his team fell just six runs short. It was Gill’s first win in IPL as skipper and right after the match, Hardik walked up to the young batsman and congratulated him with a hug on this momentous occasion.
An inexplicable batting strategy by Mumbai Indians at the death saw Shubman Gill make a promising debut as captain of the Gujarat Titans with a thrilling six-run win in their opening match for the IPL.
Jasprit Bumrah (14/3) was at his best in his first IPL match in two years, using his express yorkers at will to help Mumbai Indians restrict Gujarat Titans to 168/6.
But Bumrah’s effort was not enough as batters like Tilak Varma and skipper Hardik Pandya failed to complement his brilliance.
MI finished on 162/9 as things went downhill, needing only 43 runs from the last five overs with seven wickets in hand.
So MI failed to break the jinx of the opening match. The last time they won their IPL opener was against Chennai Super Kings, way back in 2012.
While spinners Rashid Khan (0/23 in 4 overs) and R Sai Kishore (1/24) gave very little with the ball despite the dew, veteran Mohit Sharma (2/32) used his variations with different types of slower deliveries to smooth the proceedings. to change the match.
Spencer Johnson (2/25) and Umesh Yadav (2/32) were brilliant in bowling the 19th and 20th over, while Hardik Pandya relegating himself to number 7 in the batting order is something that needs explanation. He did hit a six and four in the last over, but Umesh had the last laugh.
(With PTI inputs)
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