The Gujarat Titans moved back into the joint-leaders position in the Indian Premier League table on Tuesday after an impressive 55-run win over Mumbai Indians in Ahmedabad.
Rohit Sharma won the toss for MI and opted to bowl. Powered by Shubhman Gill’s 56 off 34, David Miller’s 46 off 22, and quickfire innings by eventual player of the match Abhinav Manohar (42 off 21) and Rahul Tewatia’s 20 off 5, the Titans reached a total of 207/6 after 20 overs.
In the second innings, MI was restricted to 152/9.
The bowlers for GT put on an impressive performance, with stalwart Rashid Khan eventually taking over the ‘Purple Cap’ – for highest wicket taker of the season, at the end of the match.
“It’s good so far. Just a few things I’ve been working on, to be more consistent with line and length. I’m happy I got some wickets, but at the same time I need to work on some areas where I don’t want to bowl but it’s just going there,” said Khan, who has picked up 14 wickets in seven matches, one more than Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Mohammed Siraj and Punjab Kings’ Arshdeep Singh.
“(We found the right length today and) that’s why the first three overs we were able to keep them quite on this wicket. As long as you hit the right area, it’s pretty hard for the batters to go after (you). That was the main thing in the mind, to hit the right area and to mix it up.”
The 24-year-old finished the match with figures of 2/27 at the end of four overs. But the pick of the bowlers was his compatriot, 18-year-old Noor Ahmad.
The 18-year-old did give away 37 runs, but picked up the important wickets of Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav and Tim David.
“It’s a great to have him (in the team) and share that bowling partnership with him,” Khan said about Ahmad.
“Last year when he joined GT, that was the first time we met. He played Under-19 before that, but I felt (this) is the time we need to work on (with him). That guy, he just wants to learn. He’s working so hard. The way he was working and bowling last year in the nets, he’d keep asking questions. I had gym sessions and he’d come and say let’s bowl in the gym. At 1 AM, 2AM, during Ramazan, he’d be bowling with me in the gym.
“That’s how much he wanted to get better and to perform. He got the opportunity of delivering and I’m happy that he did. It’s great news for GT and of course for Afghanistan.”
With the loss, MI stay in seventh position – one below the playoffs zone – with three wins and four losses.
GT meanwhile have five wins and two losses. They next take a trip to the Eden Gardens to play the Kolkata Knight Riders on April 29.