IPL 2023, Gujarat Titans (GT) vs Mumbai Indians (MI), Top Performances: David Miller and Abhinav Manohar’s 71-run stand, Rashid Khan’s 2-27 and Noor Ahmad’s 3-37 are the top performances. GT beat MI by 55 runs and move to number 2 position.
Brief Scores: GT 207-6 (Gill 56, Miller 46, Manohar 42, Tendulkar 1-9) beat Mumbai Indians 152-9 (Wadhera 40, Green 33, Rashid 2-27, Noor 3-37) by 55 runs
Player of the Match: Abhinav Manohar (42 off 21)
The 35th match of IPL 2023 got underway on April 25 where Gujarat Titans hosted Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. It was a crucial encounter for both the sides. MI wanted to maintain their winning streak and crawl their way up the points table. Whereas, GT on the other hand were looking to exert their dominance and climb further up the points table to topple the men in yellow from number 1 spot.
Gujarat rattle up 207-6 to drive MI out of the game
After being asked to bat first, GT opener Wriddhiman Saha succumbed to Arjun Tendulkar in the third over of the game reducing them to 12-1. Following the immediate conclusion of powerplay, Hardik Pandya was dismissed by Piyush Chawla as the former holed out at long off. Vijay Shankar and Shubman Gill built a substantial 41-run stand for the third wicket but were later dismissed in quick succession reducing the home side to 101-4 inside 13 overs. In the end, the brutal power hitting from Abhinav Manohar, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia helped GT post their highest team total in the history of IPL.
In response, MI openers were unable to get their side off to an electrifying start as they were beaten past the outside edge of the bat on numerous occasions. GT seamers featuring Mohammed Shami and Hardik Pandya got the ball to talk within the first few overs of the powerplay and maintained a tight lid on MI’s scoring rate which ultimately lead to the demise of Rohit Sharma. With their backs against the wall, MI lost another wicket in the form of Ishan Kishan whose painful stay at the crease came to a close as he could only manage to accumulate 13 runs at a sluggish strike rate of 62. As overs kept ticking by, the pressure kept building and batters departed one after the other while trying to expedite the scoring rate. Cameroon Green tried to play with an aggressive approach but with no viable support from the other end, MI were well short of their target and suffered a very heavy defeat by a margin of 55 runs.
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Talking Points: Mumbai Indian’s disastrous show with the bat
With a colossal target to chase, MI batters never got going and were severely short of the eight ball, registering an awful scoring rate. They miserably failed to take the attack to the GT bowlers and were completely bamboozled nearly halfway through their innings. GT seamers in particular bowled very well upfront going at just under 5 RPO. Mumbai batters found the going tough and struggled to cope with the excess swing and seam movement.
After getting off to a very sluggish start in the powerplay, Mumbai Indians were derailed even further as they were pushed back by a quick flurry of wickets from the Afghan spin attack featuring Noor Ahmad and Rashid Khan who shared 5 wickets between them whilst going at just under 7.8 RPO. Barring Suryakumar Yadav, Cameron Green and Nehal Wadhera, no one was able to show positive intent at the crease. Furthermore, no substantial partnerships in the middle meant that it was all too easy for the Titans in the end to close the game in a rather one-sided affair.
Top performances from GT vs MI, IPL 2023
Miller and Manohar’s quickfire 71-run stand for the fifth wicket
The duo took command when GT suddenly found themselves in a spot of bother by the end of the 13th over. Once they got a hang of the deck, the duo displayed their fireworks and piled up some crucial runs to propel their side to a convincing first innings score of 207. They registered a rapid 71 run partnership in the space of 35 balls, predominately playing most of their shots within the V. Abhinav Manohar played a brilliant knock of 42(21) which featured 3 sixes and 3 fours, whereas David Miller showed his aggressive intent and scored 46(22) which featured 2 fours and 4 sixes.
Rashid Khan wreaks havoc on the MI camp through his spin wizardry
The 24-year-old leg spinning all-rounder Rashid Khan enjoyed bowling on this track as he returned figures of 2-27 which included 10 dots. He kept his channel pretty tight and used wrong ‘uns as a primary weapon to keep the batters on their toes. Though on certain occasions, he would mix it up with his occasional leggies causing an enormous amount of headache for the MI batters. He bowled economically at the end to keep the flow of runs down and prevented Green from going ballistic.
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Noor Ahmad’s 3-37 breaks the back of the MI batting line-up
Unlike his counterpart Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad was a touch on the higher side going at over 9 RPO. But it is the wickets that matter the most in this format. The emerging star from Afghanistan returned figures of 3-37 which included a staggering 10 dots. He provided timely breakthroughs between the 10th and the 13th over by sending Green, Tim David and Yadav back to the pavilion in quick succession post which MI were unable to regroup.
Points Table Scenario & What’s Next
Following their win in Tuesday’s fixture, GT have the upper hand and climb up to number 2 spot whilst their NRR has significantly improved to 0.580. They will head to Eden Gardens to face KKR in their upcoming fixture on April 29. Whereas, MI have thoroughly been decimated after today’s fixture and remain at the number 7 position whilst their NRR has substantially degraded to -0.620. They will now head to Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai to host RR in their next encounter on April 30.
Read More: IPL 2023, GT vs RR: Samson, Hetmyer help Rajasthan cruise through top spot; Gujarat at third
IPL 2023 Points Table
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