Shubman Gill made a winning start as captain as the Gujarat Titans began their IPL 2024 season with a thrilling win over Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi stadium on Sunday, March 24, 2024.
It may have been the brilliant death bowling that took Gujarat home, but some useful knocks set up the Titans win.
While R Sai Sudharsan continued in the same vein from IPL 2023, Gill too got off to a strong start. Rahul Tewatia served up the cameos one is so used to as Titans posted a winning total on the board.
Meanwhile, for Mumbai Indians, the batters got the chase off to a flying start, but failed to get the team over the line.
Rohit Sharma may not be skipper anymore, but he led the batters from the front with a solid knock. The former skipper was aptly supported by young Dewald Brevis. But with GT striking at crucial junctures MI failed to overcome their jinx of losing the IPL opener.
A look at the best batters in the GT vs MI IPL match:
R Sai Sudharsan
Sai Sudharsan picked up from where he left off the previous season. In the 2023 final, Sai had smashed a 47-ball 96 against the Chennai Super Kings. And on Sunday, in Titans' opening match, he was once again the top scorer for his side.
Tamil Nadu's young batting star scored a steady 45 from 39 balls.
He didn't start off fluently and only managed a boundary off the 14th ball he faced, when he hit off-spinner Naman Dhir for a four through the covers in the 10th over.
That got him in the groove as he heaved Piyush Chawla for a six over square leg in the following over. His 40-run stand for the third wicket with Azmatullah Omarzai helped Titans make steady progress in the middle overs.
He survived a testing over from Jasprit Bumrah as he played three dot balls in a row, but made it up with a boundary off Gerald Coetzee in the 14th over.
The left-hander ensured Titans didn't lose momentum as he struck Hardik Pandya for a four past point. But he perished to Bumrah in the 17th over just when he was looking to cut loose at the end, with Tilak Varma taking a stunning catch running in from deep square leg.
Rahul Tewatia
He's churned out match-winning cameos on several occasions before and once again, Tewatia made a positive start to the season with a quickfire knock.
His entertaining cameo proved to be the turning point for Titans.
Having started with two dots off Bumrah, he targetted debutant Luke Wood in the 18th over hitting the MI pacer for a six and two fours to get 19 runs from the over.
Titans looked in danger of finishing below 150, but Tewatia's counter attack was responsible to drive the hosts to 168, with 33 coming from the last three overs.
Though his 15-ball 22 may not have looked enough for a winning total, in the end those crucial runs was just the cushion the GT bowlers needed to eke out a thrilling win.
Shubman Gill
Gill didn't let the burden of captaincy affect his batting, with a sparkling 31 from 22 balls at the top of the order.
The young batter got off the mark with a delightful flick off his opposite number Hardik Pandya for a boundary in the very first over and hit another four off Luke Wood in the second over.
After Wriddhiman Saha was dismissed by Bumrah for 19, Gill countered with a four and a six off spinner Shams Mulani in the fifth over. The GT skipper was looking ominious before the experienced Piyush Chawla ended his stay at the crease.
Rohit Sharma
Rohit stroked a quickfire 43 from 29 balls (7 fours, 1 six) to give MI the perfect start in their run chase. Ishan Kishan fell for a duck in the first over, but Rohit revived his team with two fours off Umesh Yadav in the second over, including a lucky boundary off the inside edge.
He assaulted Umesh further, hitting his former India team-mate for a straight boundary and followed it up with a six over midwicket.
Rohit used the sweep to good effect against Rashid Khan for a boundary square on the leg side as Mumbai scored 52 in six overs in the Powerplay.
Debutant pacer Spencer Johnson got a rude welcome from Rohit as he smashed the left-armer for a couple of fours in the 10th over.
He was put down on 42 by Mohit Sharma, who failed to take a tough chance off his own bowling. but R Sai Kishore ensured it didn't cost Titans as he dismissed Rohit in the next over.
Dewald Brevis
Young Brevis made an immediate impact as he played a handsome drive through the covers to get off the mark with a four off the first ball he faced.
Rashid Khan got a taste of the South African prodigy's raw talent when he smashed the leggie for a six down the ground and he slashed pacer Spencer Johnson over point for the same result.
His third six was a beauty as he played the inside out lofted shot over extra over off spinner R Sai Kishore in the 12th over.
Brevis was unlucky to miss out on a deserved fifty as he miscued the slower ball and was caught by Mohit Sharma after a fluent 38-ball 46, with three sixes and two fours.
GT Vs MI: Who Played The Best Knock?
