Ahmedabad, Mar 25:
Mumbai Indians failed yet again to break the jinx of not winning their first game of the Indian Premier League as they lost to Gujarat Titans by six runs at the iconic Narendra Modi International Stadium here on Sunday.
Batting first after being asked to do so, Gujarat Titans got off to a strong start with Wriddhiman Saha (19 off 15) and Shubman Gill (31 off 22) contributing well with 19 and 31 runs respectively.
Despite losing early wickets, Sai Sudharsan’s steady innings of 45 runs in 39 balls, supported by contributions from Azmatullah Omarzai (17 off 11), David Miller (12 off 11), and a quickfire knock from Rahul Tewatia (22off 15), propelled Gijarat Titans to a competitive total of 168 runs.
In response, the Mumbai Indians faced an early setback with the dismissal of Ishan Kishan for a duck. However, Naman Dhir provided some momentum with a quickfire 20 runs before being dismissed.
The Mumbai Indians’ innings gained momentum with strong performances from Rohit Sharma (43) and Dewald Brevis (46), who put on a crucial partnership of 77 runs for the third wicket.
Despite their efforts, Mumbai Indians faltered towards the end, with Tim David (11 off 10), Tilak Varma (25 off 19), and Hardik Pandya (11 off 4) unable to guide the team to victory.
With 19 runs required off the last over, Hardik made a valiant effort by scoring 10 runs off the first two balls.
However, Umesh Yadav’s solid bowling performance (2/31) ensured that Mumbai Indians fell short by 4 runs, handing the Gujarat Titans a well-deserved victory.
Meanwhile, Mumbai Indians’ new skipper Hardik Pandya Sunday took the six-run defeat to Gujarat Titans in their IPL opener on the chin, saying it was “not an issue” as there are 13 matches to go.
Pandya was not harsh on his batter Tilak Varma who refused to run a single at a crucial juncture when batting alongside Tim David.“Obviously we back ourselves to chase those 42 runs (in the last five overs) but it was one of those days where we see the score quite less in those last five overs, we lost a bit of momentum there,” Pandya said at the post-match presentation.
Gujarat Titans’ new captain Shubman Gill was full of praise for his bowlers, especially spinners R. Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan, who performed exceedingly well despite the dew setting in at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
“I think the way the boys held their nerves, and the way we bowled in the death overs, especially with the dew coming in, I thought it was special.”
