Mohit, Noor and Rashid stifle big-hitting Sunrisers to set up Titans victory
Sai Sudharsan, David Miller and Shubman Gill contributed in a comfortable chase in Ahmedabad
Sai Sudharsan, David Miller and Shubman Gill contributed in a comfortable chase in Ahmedabad
Scorer: @Thilak_Rama | Commentator: Aaditya Narayan and Ekanth
That's the 11th win for the home team in 12 games. Will that trend continue in Delhi or can super-strong CSK change that? Find out Live here. Thanks for tuning in to this match. I'm Ekanth, signing off on behalf of my co-commentator Aaditya Narayan, and our scorers, Thilak Rama and M Venkat Raghav.
Mohit Sharma, POTM: Thanks for telling me I'm aging. I practice what I do generally. What's important is knowing when to use them and being ahead of the batter. Everyone has them on slow wickets but knowing how to use it against whom is key. (Importance of tweaking the field when bowling slow) If you and the batter knows what you'll deliver, then you need to play with one fielder's position to deceive the batter. If he's ready for a slower bouncer but I go slow and wide, he won't be ready. (Bowling slow balls in night games) We practice with a wet ball to contend with dew. But it's an uncontrollable, mindset matters more there. (On his role) As long as I do well I enjoy. When you don't it hurts a bit but you have to go back and review things after the game. But it's better if the mistakes are due to failing in execution rather than not following the plan. Spinners were excellent after SRH started well. It helped us chase a smaller target.
Shubman Gill, GT captain: Winning two matches at home is great, two more to go and then we go on the road. Hope to bring the momentum back. Our bowlers, esp Noor, Rashid bhai is world-class. But Noor and Darshan bowled excellently. Mohit is such an experienced bowler, esp on wickets like this. Not easy to bowl three or four overs back to back. He mixes up yorkers, slower ones so well. In this heat, it's easier to bat early in day games. So we wanted to make them hit to the bigger boundary off slower balls. Ball hit the bottom of my bat on my wicket ball. In T20s if you see the ball in your slot you have to go for it. We thought 160-170 would be a good score. Credit to the bowlers to restrict them. Everyone knows their roles in terms of batting or bowling. Sai has played well, Wriddhi bhai does what he does well. Miller's gotten in form too. He has just a cramp I think.
Shadow-Shell: "Wow! Highest impact is Mohit with 58.38. Shows how no one dominated the game more than other"
Ananthanarayana: "Men in blue beat pat Cummins led side in Ahmedabad ! "
Sai Sudharsan: Happy with my contribution as it helped the team to win. On this wicket it was tough to play pacers bowling slower ones. So we thought of targeting spinners and maximising there. Great contribution from Mohit and Rashid, they saved 10-15 runs which was key. To be playing in front of home crowd is a plus point which is playing in our favour. [Being out in the 40s] Everyone wants to score more every game, I'm just thinking of contributing and helping the team win. Milestones will come.
Pat Cummins, SRH captain: Good match but we got 10-15 less. They bowled well. Losing a couple of wickets meant we couldn't get a batter not making fifty plus. It happens, it was probably the difference. [Him coming in late to bowl] Today it was a case because we thought the wicket would slow up a little bit and offcutters would become more effective, which they were. [Would he have changed the toss decision] No, I thought the wicket played the same in both innings. It's T20 cricket, batters have had fantastic couple of games. The boys looked good but were stifled by the wickets.
6:54pm It was a clean finish. Titans took it deep, had wickets in hand and the experienced Miller took them over the line. SRH were probably unders after being stifled in the powerplay. Four batters made 20s and three between 15 and 20. In contrast, all four of Titans' top order got more than 25. Saha attacked Shahbaz, got boundaries off Unadkat and Bhuvi too. Gill carried on with Sai Sudharsan with the asking rate not mounting. SRH were trying to get a good chunk of their spinners' overs out but it led to only two wickets in the first ten. Gill's wicket didn't open up the game as Miller joined Sudharsan. Cummins' entry slowed the rate, Miller was hobbling at times but the 24-run 16th over off Markande meant there were no death-overs worries. Vijay Shankar too chipped in with a cameo in the end.
nickH: "GT's 20th over and SRH's 16th over decided the game."
Final ball?
Ajey: "On the contrary, this run chase has been easier than the score card will suggest with GT clearly planning which bowler they will take in and who they will play out. Their strategy is about winning points over net run rate. "
Can Cummins take this into the last over?
Around
Ahmed: "This run chase from GT has been much harder than the scorecard will ever suggest. "
Titans understood the pitch and the conditions, and their lead bowlers executed the plans perfectly to get the better of Sunrisers
Sai Sudharsan, David Miller and Shubman Gill contributed in a comfortable chase in Ahmedabad
Their key players are out of form and that's not good when they have to face the tournament's most in-form batting unit