In a breathtaking clash between MI & GT, GT came out victorious in a game which we quite topsy-turvy. GT won by the game by 3 wickets by DLS method as the target was adjusted to 147 runs due to scattered thunderstorms. The game ended post-midnight as there was relentless rain and it broke a lot of MI fans who were agonizingly close but couldn’t cross the finish line.
MI now find themselves in a spot of bother with 14 points in 12 matches and are at 4th place in the points table, & still have a healthy NRR of +1.156 but only 2 matches remaining. Hardik Pandya’s captaincy once again has come under the scanner as his former team has defeated MI in this edition.
Will Jacks turbulent knock & Corbin Bosch’s late flourish helps MI
MI were asked to bat first by GT as MI were unchanged, but GT brought in Arshad Khan in place of Washington Sundar. During toss time, Shubman Gill mentioned that Kagiso Rabada needs some more practice sessions to be back in the playing 11 after the provisional suspension lifted by WADA.
GT had a splendid start to the match, Ryan Rickelton was dismissed in the very first over by Mohammed Siraj. GT could have had another wicket in same over but Will Jacks got a life as he was dropped by Sai Sudharsan when Jacks was on 0. The surface looked a belter as ball was coming on to the bat quite nicely as Rohit Sharma & Will Jacks started dictating the terms.
Just what MI fans didn’t want to see that happened, Rohit Sharma fall in the trap of an inexperienced pacer Arshad Khan as the decision of playing inside-out shot proved to be costly. MI’s score was 26-2 in 3.3 overs. Astonishingly, Suryakumar Yadav was dropped on 10 runs by R Sai Kishore at mid-wicket as at that time MI’s score was 39-2 in 4.5 overs. Prasidh was whacked around the park in his first over as he conceded 16 runs.
It was quite unbelievable that Will Jacks got yet another life in 6th over. Jacks was dropped on 29 runs by Siraj on mid-wicket which was quite a staight-forward catch & MI’s score was 56-2 in 5.5 overs at that time. GT’s fielding was quite below par as they could have sent MI’s half team in the dug out.
Will Jacks & Suryakumar Yadav played out Rashid Khan & Sai Kishore quite smartly by rotating the strike. Suryakumar in particular was seen playing his slog sweep shots to negate the threat of turn as the surface was quite turn and the ball was skidding. At the end of 10 overs, MI’s score was 89-2 and looked ominous to set a target in excess of 200 with the fire power which was left in their batting unit.
Sai Kishore & Rashid Khan turned the tables for GT. Sai Kishore in 11th over forced Suryakumar to play an inside-out shot at covers but the flighted delivery deceived him, and he gave a catch to long off Shahrukh Khan. Suryakumar & Jacks were involved in a critical partnership of 71 runs in 43 balls.
In the very next over, Rashid duped Jacks in the air as the decision to play a lofted sweep shot didn’t clear the boundary rope as the fielder at deep-square leg took a regulation catch. Jacks was dropped twice but this time couldn’t get lucky. Jacks registered his highest score of 53 runs in the tournament. All of a sudden, MI’s score was 103-4 in 11.4 overs.
Shubman Gill’s strategy and field placement to get rid of Hardik Pandya was amazing. Sai Kishore was bowling the 13th over and Gill was in the first slip, on the 3rd ball of over, Sai Kishore bowled a flighted delivery on the middle of leg stump and Pandya went for a slog sweep which he mistimed and Gill took a running catch behind the wicket-keeper and sent back Hardik (1 run in 3 balls) back to dug out.
Then there was a dramatic collapse of MI from 106-5 in 12.3 overs to 123-7 in 16.2 overs. GT’s bowlers hunted in a pack and made sure that they mixed their line & lengths. Corbin Bosch during the death overs smashed some lusty blows and took MI’s score to 155-8. Bosch’s cameo of 27 runs in 22 balls gave MI the much needed impetus at back end of innings. In last 5 overs, MI scored 39 runs and lost 2 wickets.
GT’s all-round batting effort pulls off the unthinkable
The target of 156 wasn’t a steep one, but a challenging one for GT given MI’s lethal fast bowling attack. Hardik Pandya set a brilliant trap when Trent Boult was bowling the 2nd over and the fielder close to the non-striker batter was set. Trent Boult bowled a gorgeous out-swinging delivery to Sai Sudharsan who edged the ball to wicket-keeper and got rid of consistent Sai Sudharsan.
During the 3rd over, there was drizzle and astoundingly the umpires continued the game even when there was a dust storm and rain till overs. Shubman Gill & Jos Buttler weren’t happy with the umpires for their decision to not bring the covers as the the field was getting wet so was the wicket which made life harder for the duo to smash boundaries and with the breeze the ball was reverse swinging as well.
GT’s score was 29-1 in 6 overs and the DLS score was 40 and just after that MI took their strategic time out break of 2 and half minutes. The rain though eased after strategic time out and Buttler & Gill got the run chase back on track. There was a hide & seek game being played of DLS score when GT was ahead and in another over MI was.
Shubman Gill played the role of anchor and showed maturity in an inclement weather and crunch match. At the end of 11 overs, GT’s score was 76-1 when they were ahead by 2 runs on DLS method. In the 12th over Gill was given a reprieve on 35 when Tilak Varma dropped his catch on bowling of Ashwani Kumar and GT’s score was 78-1 in 11.2 overs.
On the very next ball Buttler nicked the ball to wicket-keeper and MI was back in game. Buttler’s calculated knock of 30 runs in 27 balls comprising of 3 fours and 1 six was pivotal in the 72 runs partnership in 63 balls with Shubman Gill. GT’s score at 12 overs was 79-2 and MI was ahead by 5 runs on DLS method.
Hardik Pandya then brought in Will Jacks into the bowling attack for 13th over. It was quite perplexing how a part-time spinner was introduced in such a critical juncture of the match and that back-fired very badly. Sherfane Rutherford was the impact player and came in place of Prasidh Krishna. Rutherford smacked Jacks for 2 fours and 1 six in the over and GT were 3 runs ahead on DLS with GT’s score being 94-2 and needing another 62 to win from 7 overs which changed the equation drastically.
Ashwani Kumar was targeted by Sherfane Rutherford who scored 10 runs in his last 3 balls including a six. GT’s score was 107-2 in 14 overs and they were ahead by 8 runs on DLS. The 13th & 14th over yielded 28 runs which brought GT back in game tremendously. GT needed 49 runs from 6 overs and with 8 wickets they were the favorites but it wasn’t that easy one.
Rain returned again for a brief spell of more than 30 minutes and no overs were deducted as extra one hour wasn’t completed fully. The introduction of Bumrah in 15th over was proved to be the master-stroke of Hardik as Bumrah cleaned up Gill on 5th ball of the over. The ball kept low massively as the wicket was no less than a minefield. Gill’s knock of 43 runs in 46 balls was quite commendable.
The rain break broke GT batters’ momentum as in the 16th over Boult trapped Rutherford LBW and MI were back in game. The match was no less than a thrilling cinema where multiple characters where having an impact. Bumrah & Boult bowled out their 4 over spell and GT’s score was 125-5 and needed another 31 to win from 3 overs.
Rahul Tewatia & Gerald Coetzee had a stern task ahead of them as scoring 30 from 16 balls wasn’t going to be an easy cake walk. GT were 5 runs on DLS score as in last 2 overs, they needed 24 runs to win but then the unimaginable happen. Guess what, rain again came and it was pelting down. MI players were very happy as they almost had won the game but it was almost.
The rain stoppage was again for around 30 mins and umpires decided to deduct one over and the target for GT was 15 to win the match. The fans literally saw a two day game with the final over scheduled past midnight.
Deepak Chahar was given the responsibility of bowling the ultimate over. MI had only 4 fielders outside 30 yard circle because of over-rate fine which was the final nail in the coffin which GT required. Rahul Tewatia dispatched the first ball to long off for a boundary given despite there being no fielder at long off.
That didn’t stop there, Gerald Coetzee hit a huge six on 3rd ball to long off as the ball was pitched in slot region. What happened next was quite shocking as Deepak Chahar overstepped on 4th ball and an extra delivery gave GT 2 more runs. MI had a chance to tie the game and on last ball, Hardik Pandya at long on missed the direct hit and there was no back up from Chahar nor Suryakumar to hit the stumps again and GT won. This match was no less than for heart-breaking for both MI & GT fans.
Crazy game
MI have got themselves to blame for their performance especially in the bowling department. Hardik Pandya’s decision to give Will Jacks a solitary over and giving the ultimate over to Deepak Chahar somewhat cost MI the game. Hardik Pandya should have bowled the last over by himself given he can nail the wide off stump yorkers pinpointly. He was expensive in his first over with 18 runs conceded but perhaps a captain winning the match should have bowled the ultimate over.
GT won’t be able to believe how they made multiple comebacks in the match and won it. It was a complete team effort from the side. The way Gerald Coetzee took the initiative of finishing the match is quite extra-ordinary as a cameo of 12Â in 6 balls can be game changing. Coetzee also took 2 wickets in the match. GT now are sitting at the top of the points table with 16 points in 11 matches and are taking giant steps of making it to top 2 in table which can be threatening like their 2022 triumph & also heart wrenching like 2023 edition.
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