Rashid Khan's 4/30 and 79 (32) in vain
MUMBAI: Gujarat Titans' plan was to keep it outside off stump to Suryakumar Yadav and make it difficult for him to play his favoured shots - the scoops and the ramps.
But such has been Surya's form of late that he shattered those plans into pieces and hammer an unbeaten 49-ball 103-his maiden IPL century - and take Mumbai Indians a step closer to a playoff spot.
Surya's pyrotechnics enabled MI to post 218 for five before their bowlers restricted GT to 191-8 to help MI record a 27-run win which moved them to third in the standings with 14 points.
MI firmed their grip on the match by the eighth over by reducing GT to 55/5. Leading GT's downfall was Akash Madhwal (3-31), who was brought in as an impact player in place of Vishnu Vinod. The right-arm pacer started the collapse by dismissing Wriddhiman Saha in the second over before accounting for the in-form Shubman Gill and David Miller.
Rashid Khan's (79, 23b)) late blows, which saw him hit 10 sixes, brought some excitement towards the end but it was too late by then. However, it did dent MI's chances of improving their run-rate significantly.
Surya brought up his 50 in 32 balls before ripping apart GT bowling in the next 17 balls he faced as he scored 51 runs to help MI race to another 200-plus score. The innings, at a strike rate of 210, came at a right time for MI considering the fact that only once in previous five matches had a team managed to defend a total at the venue.
1/10:IPL 2023: SKY ton seals MI win against Gujarat Titans
ANI
2/10:Suryakumar Yadav
<p>A blazing unbeaten century by Suryakumar Yadav helped Mumbai Indians beat the reigning IPL champions Gujarat Titans by 27 runs in Mumbai on Friday. (Pic credit: Raju Shinde)</p>TNN
3/10:MI 218/5
<p>The world's top-rated Twenty20 batter hit a 49-ball 103, with six sixes and 11 fours, to propel his team to 218/5. (Pic credit: Raju Shinde)</p>TNN
4/10:SKY
<p>Suryakumar outshone an inspired all-round performance by maverick spinner Rashid Khan, who took 4/30. (Pic credit: Raju Shinde)</p>TNN
5/10:The toss
<p>Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to field, but immediately faced aggressive hitting by Mumbai skipper and opener Rohit Sharma. </p>IANS
6/10:Rohit Sharma
<p>Rohit Sharma hit 18-ball 29, in a 61-run opening partnership with Ishan Kishan. (Pic credit: Raju Shinde)</p>TNN
7/10:Nehal Wadhera
<p>However, Mumbai lost Rohit, Kishan (31) and Nehal Wadhera (15) to slip to 88/3. (Pic credit: Raju Shinde)</p>TNN
8/10:Maiden IPL ton
<p>Suryakumar Yadav then took charge for his first IPL century in yet another player-of-the-match performance. (Pic credit: Raju Shinde)</p>TNN
9/10:Rashid Khan
<p>Rashid Khan, who removed both the openers as well as Wadhera and Tim David, was the only threatening Gujarat bowler. (Pic credit: Raju Shinde)</p>TNN
10/10:Worst possible start
<p>Gujarat then made the worst possible start, losing openers Wriddhiman Saha (2), Shubman Gill (6) and skipper Pandya (4) by the fourth over. (Pic credit: Raju Shinde)</p>TNNHe topped it all up with a last ball six to bring up his century. He has now scored 413 in his last seven innings and 479 in 12 matches which has moved him to third in the Orange Cap race behind Faf Du Plessis (567) and Yashasvi Jaiswal (575).
Of the 103 he scored, 54 per cent came through the off-side and on occasions he walked way across the stumps to deposit a few on the on-side including the last ball six off Joseph.
The only GT bowler who didn't leak runs was Rashid (4-30) and at one point it looked like his effort would keep MI's score below 200.
Rashid reduced MI to 88 for three by the ninth over as he dismissed Rohit Sharma (29, 18b; 3x4, 2x6) and Ishan Kishan (31, 20b; 4x4, 1x6) in the seventh over. Those were crucial blows considering Rohit and Ishan had given MI a rollicking start as they scored 61 in the powerplay.
In his next over, the leggie castled Nehal Wadhera (15, 7b; 1x4, 1x6) to keep a check on MI's scoring. Rashid, though, waged a lone battle as other GT bowlers leaked runs.
