Prasidh Krishna, Sai Sudharsan hand MI a heavy defeat.

In Ahmedabad, GT scored 196 for 8 after being put in on a black-soil track where 180 was predicted to be the par score. MI, who were deemed deficient in all three departments even after Hardik Pandya returned from an over-rate ban, found it to be 36 too many.

Even though GT didn’t have a flawless game, they made the majority of their mistakes right, including choosing a slow surface, as their assistant and batting coach Parthiv Patel disclosed in an in-game interview. After a diving attempt, B Sai Sudharsan appeared to have left the pitch clutching his left hamstring, which was their biggest worry. Later on, however, Shubman Gill claimed that it was just cramps.

Sudharsan and Gill make the most of the powerplay.

Gill had stated before the season began that he wanted GT to play as much powerplay as possible because, with a run rate of 7.72 previous season, they were the slowest team in that period. Sudharsan and Gill both tried their hardest to raise that figure. The team reached 66 for no loss after each player scored 32 from 18 balls in the first six overs. In the IPL, it was their third-highest powerplay score. It was Gill and Sudharsan’s eighth 50-plus partnership in five T20 starting innings.

The quiet following a storm

MI retracted its actions after the pitch limitations were loosened. In the following three overs, they gave up just 13 runs and got rid of Gill. At deep square-leg, Gill dragged a short ball from Hardik straight to Naman Dhir. Hardik has now given up just 11 runs while dismissing Gill four times in 18 deliveries in T20 cricket.

In the tenth over, Mitchell Santner was hit for a six and a four off consecutive balls by Jos Buttler, ending the boundary drought. In the following four overs, he too hit a boundary, but Mujeeb Ur Rahman finished his stay at 39.

Not much for the others, but fifty for Sudharsan

For a while, Sudharsan kept GT operating. He led the team to 170 for 3 after 17 overs, scoring his second fifty off 33 balls in as many games. But then GT fell apart. Rahul Tewatia was run out on the first ball of the 19th over, Sherfane Rutherford holed out to deep extra-cover the next ball, and Trent Boult caught Sudharsan leg before wicket with a yorker on the final ball of the 18th over. Kagiso Rabada and Rashid Khan both hit sixes, but GT was only able to muster 26 in the final three.

Siraj uses powerplay to score twice.

Before this match, Mohammed Siraj had lost ten T20 innings to Rohit Sharma, giving up 74 runs off 55 balls without ever getting rid of him. When Rohit struck Siraj for two fours in the opening three balls of the chase, it appeared as though he would break that record. Two balls later, however, Siraj’s scrambled-seam delivery finally got his man. It struck the stumps and sliced Rohit in two.

In the following over, Tilak Varma launched an immediate attack and smashed Rabada for 4, 4, 6 off consecutive balls. At the other end, though, Ryan Rickelton was having trouble. He attempted to smash Siraj in the fifth over but was able to get an inside edge onto his stumps instead. MI scored 48 for 2 to end the powerplay.

MI stays afloat thanks to Suryakumar.

Tilak slowed down somewhat after that explosive start, but MI was still able to play because to Suryakumar Yadav. With only his second ball in play, he smashed Siraj over fine leg for a six with a supla stroke. Shortly after, he gave Ishant Sharma the same penalty.

R Sai Kishore was also not exempt. The batter hammered him over extra cover for a six even though he had already defeated Suryakumar in flight. For the third wicket, Suryakumar and Tilak combined for 62 off 42 balls, with Tilak contributing 21 off 22.

In order to defeat MI, Prasidh slows down.

With eight wickets remaining, MI needed to reach 100 from the final nine overs, which was by no means an impossible feat. The slower balls, however, were clinging to the surface. Prasidh Krishna employed this tactic for GT, just as Hardik had done in the opening innings. Using a slower short ball, he got Tilak caught at wide long-on after being introduced in the 12th over. Suryakumar gloved the supla onto his helmet in an attempt to oppose that strategy.

In IPL 2024, Hardik was jeered at this exact location after leaving GT for MI the season before returning. The audience yelled his name when he batted tonight. However, a rookie hitter found it difficult to score runs without restriction. Suryakumar made the decision to attack Prasidh but holed out to long-off since Hardik was having trouble and the asking rate was rising. This ball was slower as well. How sluggish? Only 97.1 kph.

MI’s hopes were dashed when Hardik was removed by Rabada in the following over, which went for just four. From the final three overs, they required 73. The assignment was nearly impossible, even though Dhir and Santner combined for four fours and two sixes.