The Gujarat Titans posted a total of 196 for 8 against the Mumbai Indians at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Saturday. Sai Sudharsan starred for the Titans with a knock of 63 runs off 41 balls. Mumbai Indians must now chase 197 runs to win. Mumbai Indians found some hope when Hardik Pandya claimed the key wicket of Titans skipper Shubman Gill. Gill had scored 38 runs off 27 balls. Despite Pandya's breakthrough, Mumbai's fielding remained poor. Misfields and dropped catches allowed the Titans to build a strong score.
Gujarat Titans got off to a flying start with a solid opening partnership between Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill. They scored 66 runs without losing a wicket in the first 6 overs. The Narendra Modi Stadium is known for its batting-friendly pitch. The ground has favored chasing teams in many matches. Mumbai Indians won the toss and opted to bowl first. Their bowling unit now faces a tough challenge against the Titans' batsmen. The early attack by Sudharsan and Gill put pressure on the MI bowlers.
The Titans' strong start has set the stage for an exciting contest. Mumbai Indians will need a solid batting display to match the target.
During the toss, skipper Hardik said during the toss, "We will bowl first. The simple reason is that we do not know how the pitch will play, plus the dew factor. Only last year we played on black soil, otherwise we have been playing on red soil. Last year, we had the game under wraps but could not finish it. The prep has been fantastic, the boys are excited and we back each other, be there for each other. Very happy stage. I come back, and the others we are keeping the options open. Always about playing good cricket, planning right and enjoying the game."
GT skipper Gill said during the toss, "Batted first plenty of times here, so nothing changes for us. It is all about assessing the conditions and seeing what target we can set, and if we are chasing, it is about how to get to that target. Plenty of positives from the last game, we just got slow in the middle and that post us, but still we managed to score about 200 runs in 14 overs. We have got the same team, might see one change with the impact sub. (On opening with Sai Sudharsan) We want to have a lefty-righty combination, and Jos (Buttler) has been playing at 3 for England, so nothing changes for him."
Playing XIs
Mumbai Indians: Rohit Sharma, Ryan Rickelton (wk), Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Hardik Pandya (c), Naman Dhir, Mitchell Santner, Deepak Chahar, Trent Boult, Mujeeb Ur Rahman, Satyanarayana Raju.
Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Sherfane Rutherford, Shahrukh Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Mohammed Siraj, Prasidh Krishna.