Mumbai (Maharashtra) [India], May 13 : Star Mumbai Indians (MI) batter Suryakumar Yadav continued his monumental run with another T20 century in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Friday.
This century is a special one as a Mumbai Indians (MI) player for Suryakumar and the team as a whole.
It is the first IPL century by an MI player since IPL 2014. The previous century by an MI player in IPL was by West Indies' Lendl Simmons against Punjab Kings (formerly Kings XI Punjab) back in May 2014.
It is also the first time since 2011 that an MI player has hit a century at the franchise's home stadium of Wankhede Stadium.
Last time this feat happened was when legendary Indian cricketer Sachin Tendulkar smashed a 66-ball hundred against now-defunct Kochi Tuskers Kerala back in April 2011.
In 12 matches, he has scored 479 runs at an average of 43.54 and a strike rate of over 190.83. He has scored a century and four half-centuries in IPL 2023, with the best score of 103*.
Being put to bat first by GT, MI put up 218/5 on the board in their 20 overs. Openers Ishan Kishan (31 off 20 balls) and skipper Rohit Sharma (29 off 18 balls) provided a quick start with a quick 61-run opening stand.
However, Rashid Khan removed the openers and Nehal Wadhera (15) to reduce MI to 88/3. From there, it was a 'Suryakukar Yadav show'. He put on a 65-run stand for the fourth wicket with Vishnu Vinod (30 off 20 balls). Suryakumar ended up scoring his maiden IPL century, a knock of 103* in 49 balls with 11 fours and six sixes.
Rashid Khan (4/30) was the pick of the bowlers for GT. Mohit Sharma got a wicket as well.
Chasing 219, GT lost wickets right from the start. They were reduced to 55/5, despite a knock of 29 runs from Vijay Shankar. But a partnership of 45 runs between David Miller (41 in 26 balls) and Rahul Tewatia (14 in 13 balls) helped GT reach three figures.
Following their dismissal, it was Rashid Khan who kept the fight going. Even if the side looked out of the contest, his sixes helped in lowering the margin and did not let his side's net run rate take a hit.
The Afghan all-rounder slammed 79* in just 32 balls, consisting of three fours and 10 sixes. He put on an 88-run stand for the ninth wicket with Alzarri Joseph (7*) to take GT to 191/8 in their 20 overs. MI won the match by 27 runs.
Akash Madhwal (3/31) was the pick of the bowlers for MI. Piyush Chawla (2/36) also continued his impressive run in IPL 2023. Jason Behrendorff got a wicket as well.
Suryakumar won the 'Man of the Match' award for his match-winning century.
With this win, MI is in the third position in the points table with seven wins and five losses. They have a total of 12 points. GT is still at the top with eight wins and four losses. They have a total of 16 points.
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