Shubman Gill passed his first captaincy test as Gujarat Titans eked out a nervous six-run win over Mumbai Indians in their Indian Premier League opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Sunday.
Pursuing 169, MI was coasting along at 107 for two after 12 overs. But Sai Kishore trapping Rohit Sharma (43, 29b, 7x4, 1x6) leg-before and Mohit Sharma sending back Dewald Brevis (46, 38b, 2x4, 3x6) and Tim David triggered a scarcely believable downturn.
It wasn’t as if there was no life left in MI. When 27 runs were needed from 12 balls, Tilak Varma sent Spencer Johnson soaring over long-on to raise hopes only for the left-armer to account for both Tilak and Gerald Coetzee the same over.
With 19 needed from six, Hardik Pandya — who was mildly booed on the day by the 80,000-strong crowd — appeared to have turned the tie when he smashed Umesh Yadav for a six and a four. But he holed out to long-on off the next ball to effectively hand GT the win.
Earlier, Jasprit Bumrah’s sensational return to IPL (3/14) had ensured that GT would end up with only a moderately challenging score. He prised out Wriddhiman Saha (19, 15b, 4x4) with a splendid yorker; foxed David Miller with a slower delivery before sending back the set B. Sai Sudharsan (45, 39b, 3x4, 1x6).
But a blazing start from Saha and Gill (31, 22b, 3x4, 1x6), some middle-order consolidation from Azmatullah Omarzai and Sai Sudharsan and an end-overs flourish from Rahul Tewatia (22, 15b, 2x4, 1x6) kept GT in the hunt.
There was a time when GT seemed set to finish with an under-par total as Sai Sudharsan couldn’t accelerate, Miller was dismissed and the side was reduced to 134 for five. With not many boundaries, it was a canine intruder that held up play for nearly five minutes in the 14th over that received the loudest cheers.
But Tewatia ensured it was not all gloom, caning left-arm pacer Luke Wood for a six and two fours in the 18th over. A stunning diving catch in the deep from Naman Dhir sent him back but not before the southpaw had done his job.
