Mullanpur (Punjab) [India], May 31 (ANI): Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill pinpointed the three dropped opportunities that cost them their chance of restraining Mumbai Indians on 210, which would have been a par score following their defeat in the Eliminator in the 18th season of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
Mumbai trounced Gujarat with a 20-run victory in a run-scoring fest in Mullanpur, a fixture where momentum swung like a pendulum. Still, signs of MI’s victory were written all over the wall after Sai Sudharsan’s dismissal.
The Titans were responsible for hurting their chances to set a date with Punjab Kings in the Qualifier 2 in their home den in Ahmedabad on Sunday. After being put to bowl by MI, Gerald Coetzee was responsible for dropping Rohit on three in the second over and in the next over, Kusal Mendis floored the opportunity to remove Rohit on 12 after the ball popped out of his hand.
Mendis, who was roped in as Jos Buttler’s replacement, was the culprit for offering Suryakumar Yadav a lifeline in the 12th over. The dynamic batter had a poke and gave away an outside edge, but Mendis failed to latch onto it. Rohit added 69 runs and ended with 81(50), while Suryakumar (33) didn’t create much of a ruckus and returned after adding eight runs to his score.
Gujarat’s woes increased in the climax of the phase after Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya deposited the ball into the stands thrice to lift Mumbai to a daunting 228/5 on the board.
“It was a brilliant game of cricket, and we were right in it. The last three-four overs didn’t go our way, but it was still a good game. Definitely not easy when we drop three sitters. It wasn’t easy for the bowlers to control, and it doesn’t help when you drop three catches. 210 would’ve been par for us on this pitch. Even in the last over, we were talking if we had taken one or two less sixes it would have made a huge difference,” Gill said after the match.
In pursuit of Mumbai’s total, GT lost its prized opener Gill cheaply on 1(2) to Trent Boult, who has a knack for scalping wickets in the opening over. Sudharsan and Washington Sundar added 84 runs on the board to keep the Titans in the thick of the action.
Sudharsan notched 80 from 49 deliveries but lost his wicket after being tempted to scoop the ball away off Richard Gleeson, which exposed his stumps in the 16th over. Gujarat’s underexposed middle order floundered, which forced them to surrender to a 20-run defeat.
“The message was simple (for Sai and Washington). Just play the game you want to play, and the goal was the same for both of them: to make us win. Because of the dew, the wicket did become a little easier for us,” he added.
GT had dominated the standings before the tournament was suspended. However, the Titans lost their mojo after the resumption and succumbed to three defeats out of four fixtures. Despite a bitter end to the tournament, Gill dwelled on the positives, especially Sudharsan, who tallied 759 runs in 15 matches.
“Definitely a lot of positives for us. The last 2-3 games didn’t go our way, but credit to all the players, especially Sai – he was terrific for us this season,” he concluded. (ANI)
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