IPL 2023: Gujarat Titans is looking the part after demolition of Mumbai

Once again the choice to field first after winning the toss has wrung the death knell of a team as Mumbai Indians discovered in a crunch IPL match against a confident Gujarat Titans.

From the very first ball that Mohammed Shami sent down to bamboozle Ishan Kishan, it was clear that Mumbai’s chances of running down a total of 207 were very slim. Eventually, the former five-time champion could only stumble to 152 for nine to lose by 55 runs, and suffer its fourth defeat of the campaign in seven matches.

Here are five key points from Match 35, the halfway stage of the tournament.

Poor record in chasing

Mumbai has a poor record in run chases having only succeeded just once in nine matches.

Given the form that Gujarat Titans brought to its home ground on Tuesday, Rohit Sharma must be ruing his decision to bat second on a wicket that favoured the big hitters early and saw the white ball swing significantly in the second half of the match.

Disciplined bowling

Despite having the luxury of defending a big total, Gujarat did not take things lightly and attacked the bat right from the ominous first over delivered by Shami. The Indian seamer could well have been bowling in a Test match given the perfect line and length that he pursued to leave Mumbai openers Ishan Kishan (12 from 21) and Rohit Sharma (2 from 8) second-guessing.

If it was looking for a breather after that over, it was not to be as Hardik Pandya was equally unplayable.

But for a little flourish from the big-hitting Aussie Cameron Green (33 off 26) and Suryakumar Yadav (23 of 12) it was all Gujarat.

Hunger to win

You could tell that Gujarat was intent on winning and winning with authority. If its batsmen did a good job against Mumbai’s much-vaunted bowlers led by ace spinner Piyush Chawla and backed by pacers Jason Behrendorff and Riley Meredith, then its bowling department was top-notch.

Rashid Khan (2 for 27), Noor Ahmad (3 for 37), and Mohit Sharma (2 for 38) combined to extinguish any slim hopes the visitors held.

It was melancholic to see a champion outfit like Mumbai looking helpless and toothless.

Run fest in death overs

There is something so compelling about the last five overs in modern T20 cricket as Abhinav Manohar, David Miller, and Rahul Tewatia demonstrated when smashing 77 runs in 30 deliveries earlier in the day.

Manohar, in particular, looked in devastating form blasting 42 of them from just 20 deliveries while his partner at the crease Miller joined in the run-fest with an invaluable 46 off 22.

Mumbai’s attack was in shreds and even a high-quality bowler like Green was made to look pedestrian.

Icing on the cake

If Mumbai was hoping for a reprieve with the dismal of Abhinav in the 18th over, it was in for a rude shock.

Rahul Tewatia, coming in at number seven, picked up from where the Bangalorean left off to slam three sixes in the five balls he faced which added another vital 20 runs to the score and took it past the 200-run mark.

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