Mumbai Indians pulled off a heist on Friday night.
It edged out Gujarat Titans by five runs at the Brabourne Stadium, much to the delight of its loyal fans, who have had very little to cheer about this IPL season.
When openers Wriddhiman Saha (55, 40b, 6x4, 2x6) and Shubman Gill (52, 36b, 6x4, 2x6) put on 106 in 12 overs, Titans seemed well on track to chase down Mumbai’s 177 for six and post its ninth victory in 11 matches.
Though they were both sent back in the very next over by M. Ashwin, the odds were still with Titans given the hard-hitting batters in the line-up. After skipper Hardik Pandya (24, 14b, 4x4) was run out in the 18th over, the equation was 20 off 12 balls.
Jasprit Bumrah’s penultimate over was spoiled by David Miller’s six over mid-wicket. That left Titans needing nine from the last over.
What an over!
And what a final over it proved to be from Daniel Sams! He gave away just three and Mumbai Indians won by five runs.
After dangerman Rahul Tiwatia was run out, Titans needed six off the last two balls. Miller was on strike, but the Australian left-arm seamer denied him.
Mumbai, after losing its first eight games, posted its second straight win. It was only the third defeat in 11 games for Titans.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians did well to recover from a top-order collapse to register a total that kept it in the game. From 74 for no wicket in 7.3 overs, it slumped to 119 for four before Tim David’s unbeaten 21-ball 44 (2x4, 4x6) lent respectability to the total.
Before the collapse, there was some lovely strokeplay, especially by Rohit Sharma (43, 28b, 5x4, 2x6). In the second over of the innings, he hit Alzarri Joseph over extra-cover for a four and flicked him above mid-wicket for a six. The Rohit show was underway, but Rashid Khan ended it, trapping him lbw. The leg-spinner’s appeal was rejected by the umpire, but he wasted no time in reviewing it. Rohit’s attempt to reverse sweep proved fatal.
His opening partner Ishan Kishan (45, 29b, 5x4, 1x6) fell to a catch at mid-wicket by Rashid off a slower ball from Joseph after Suryakumar Yadav had ballooned a catch to Rashid at mid-wicket off Pradeep Sangwan in the previous over. David then took over and ensured Mumbai Indians had enough in the bag.
