Mohammed Siraj is enjoying a dream run with his new franchise Gujarat Titans, as he bagged a four wicket haul to power them to a resounding victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in IPL 2025 on Sunday, April 6, 2025.
Leading into the match, all the buzz surrounded SRH's powerful batting line-up and how they were expected to dominate in familiar home conditions. But it was another Hyderabadi who stole the show -- with the ball in hand -- for the visitors.
Siraj lit up the Rajiv Gandhi international stadium, his domestic home ground, with a sensational spell of 4/17, putting on a bowling masterclass in front of a partisan crowd that included his family in the stands.
Prasidh Krishna and R Sai Kishore also bowled crucial spells, both picking up two wickets each, to power GT to their fourth successive fourth victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad.
Siraj, who was left out of India's Champions Trophy team despite being one of the country's most consistent performers across formats, seems to have found extra motivation from that snub.
'At one time, I was not able to digest it (getting dropped for the Champions Trophy) but I kept my spirits up and worked on my fitness and game,' he said.
Kagiso Rabada's sudden pull out from IPL 2025 was a blow for GT, but Siraj's consistent performance haven't made them feel the South African's absence yet.
The Sunrisers' usually aggressive batting was neutralised early as Siraj struck in the very first over, removing the dangerous Travis Head for 8, caught at midwicket. Interestingly, there was no animated send-off this time, unlike their fiery clash during the Adelaide Test in December.
For the fourth match in a row, SRH's openers failed to fire with their last four partnerships reading -- 15 vs LSG, 11 vs DC, 4 vs KKR and 9 vs GT.
While Ishant Sharma went for runs at the other end, Siraj did well to keep his end tight.
GT Skipper Shubman Gill cleverly gave Siraj the third over in the Powerplay. The move paid off immediately as Abhishek Sharma miscued a lofted shot and was caught at midon for 18.
This was a landmark wicket for Siraj, who completed 100 wickets in the IPL. Having played 97 matches, Siraj now boasts of 102 wickets at an average of 28.88 and an economy rate of 8.60
His first spell figures of 2/14 in three overs crippled SRH, who struggled to 45/2 in six overs of the Powerplay.
Siraj took his tally to six wickets in the Powerplay this season.
The fast bowler further destroyed the SRH batting line-up when he returned in the 19th over. He dismissed Aniket Verma and Simarjeet Singh in his final over to finish with career-best figures of 2/17 in four overs.
His spell was a masterclass in control and variation -- he bowled 17 dot balls, despite operating in high-pressure overs (three in the Powerplay and one at the death).
Notably, 33% of his deliveries were on a good length and 39% back-of-a-length, which helped keep the batters quiet early on. He then smartly shifted to a fuller length in his final over to bag two more wickets.
R Sai Kishore is enjoying a breakthrough season. In a league dominated by wrist-spinners and mystery spin, it's rare for a conventional left-arm orthodox spinner to stand out -- but Sai Kishore is doing exactly that this IPL.
After all how many spinners can claim to have outbowled Rashid Khan in T20 cricket? The 28-year-old Tamil Nadu spinner has consistently outperformed Rashid in the first four games for GT, picking up eight wickets while his senior team-mate has managed just two in the same number of games.
While Rashid went wicketless to concede 31 runs from four overs, Sai Kishore proved a tough bowler to contend on a sluggish wicket as he registered impressive figures of 2/24. Already, he has more wickets than he did in IPL 2024 (7).
Sai Kishore's control and variation were instrumental in keeping big-hitter Heinrich Klaasen in check.
Klaasen, known for his explosive batting against spin, managed just five singles in the first five balls he faced from the left-armer.
Though he did muscle one straight hit for four, Sai Kishore had the last laugh -- dismissing Klaasen with a clever arm-ball that skidded through to crash into the leg stump after the South African missed the pull shot.
Nitish Reddy, who also struggled against Sai Kishore, ended up swinging the spinner straight to the fielder at deep midwicket to fall for a scratchy knock of 31 from 34 balls.
Sai Kishore has taken at least one wicket in every game this season -- 3/30, 1/37, 2/22, and now 2/24 -- becoming a consistent match-winner for GT.
Prasidh Krishna has been one of Gujarat Titans' biggest assets this season. Bought for a hefty Rs 9.5 crore (Rs 95 million), he has more than justified the price tag so far.
This season, Krishna has been assigned a specific role to take care of the middle overs and he has performed that task to perfection.
After getting hammered for 41 runs in three overs in a high-scoring match against Punjab Kings, Prasidh has bounced back in sensational fashion, picking up five wickets from 12 overs in the next three overs, going at under seven per over.
His extra bounce makes him a difficult customer to handle. Ishan Kishan was done in by Krishna's extra bounce as he could control the pull shot and was caught at deep square leg for 17.
Since his 106 not out in the first game against Rajasthan Royals, Kishan has made just 21 runs in the next four games.
Prasidh bagged Kamindu Mendis in his final over; the Sri Lankan holed out the pull shot to deep square leg.
Prasidh finished with excellent figures of 2/25 in his four overs.
With this spell, Prasidh looks set to emulate, or perhaps even better, his IPL 2022 form when he took 19 wickets in 17 games for Rajasthan Royals. Having missed the last two seasons due to injury, his comeback has been nothing short of inspiring.
Photographs: BCCI
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