MI pacer Daniel Sams was the man who delivered at the right time: conceded just three runs when Titans needed nine in the last over to help Mumbai Indians pull off a stunning five-run victory. The Mumbai Indians made a brilliant fightback towards the end of the game to defeat Gujarat Titans in IPL 2022 on Thursday.
Defending a 178-run target, the MI made a poor start with the ball as the duo of Shubman Gill (52) and Wriddhiman Saha (55) added 106 runs for the first wicket. However, Ashwin’s twin-wicket over, where he dismissed both batters turned the tide in MI’s favour as no batter from Gujarat could forge a rebuild.
The Titans kept losing wickets, including two crucial run-outs as they required nine runs in the last over to win the match. They could score just three, while losing one wicket to slump to their second successive defeat in the season. For MI, who were already out of contention for a play-off berth, it was only their second win of the season as they remained at the bottom.
Opting to bowl, Gujarat restricted MI to 177 for six, despite quickfire innings from opening pair of Rohit Sharma (43 off 28 balls) and Ishan Kishan (45 off 29 balls) and Tim David (44 not out off 21 balls). Hardik Pandya (22) and Rahul Tewatia (3) were both run out in key moments in the game.
Rashid Khan was the most successful bowler for the Titans with his two wickets for 24, while Pradeep Sangwan and Lockie Ferguson got one each. Alzarri Joseph also took a wicket but he bled 41 runs in his four overs.
Chasing 178, Saha looked in full flow as he cracked two fours and a six off Jasprit Bumrah’s first over, before smashing Riley Meredith for two boundaries.
Shubman Gill slog-swept Murugan Ashwin for a six, before picking up another four as the fifty-run stand came up in quick time, taking the Titans to 54 for one in six overs. The Chandigarh batter exploded in the eighth over with three boundaries off Daniel Sams, who had bowled a briliant opening over.
