Bowlers restricted Titans to 162 for seven, Williamson, Abhishek chased down; Bhuvneshwar, Natarajan shines; Hardik’s knock is not enough
Bowlers restricted Titans to 162 for seven, Williamson, Abhishek chased down; Bhuvneshwar, Natarajan shines; Hardik’s knock is not enough
Following a disciplined bowling effort from captain Kane Williamson (57, 46b, 2×4, 4×6), Sunrisers Hyderabad defeated Gujarat Titans by eight wickets in the IPL at the DY Patil Stadium on Monday.
Reversing the style that Sunrisers had followed a few years back, its bowlers did the heavy lifting, restricting the Titans to 162 for seven.
Sunrisers’ path to victory depended on not losing wickets early. Openers Abhishek Sharma and Williamson did the same by being watchful in the first four overs.
Williamson first hit Mohammed Shami for a four and a six in the fifth over, before Abhishek (42) smashed the fast bowler for four fours from the off-side after Lockie Ferguson.
The Sunrisers skipper picked his moments to face the bowlers, first hitting Hardik for two sixes, then scooping him over fine leg to go after Ferguson to get his half-century in style. After Williamson’s dismissal, Nicholas Pooran took charge with an unbeaten 34 (18b, 2×4, 2×6) as Sunrisers registered a second consecutive win.
failed to accelerate
Earlier, asked to bat by Williamson, Titans got off to a good start at 51 for two in the powerplay but struggled to accelerate in the second half of the innings.
This despite captain Hardik Pandya (No. 50, 42B, 4×4, 1×6) scoring his first half-century of the season and remaining unbeaten.
The India all-rounder started at a brisk pace but could not hit big shots, especially T. Against a precise yorker at the end of Natarajan’s innings. Titans could manage just 82 runs in the last 10 overs, as against 80 for three in the halfway stage.
Hardik started off with a straight drive off Natarajan and then was hit on the helmet by a sharp bouncer from Umran Malik. He then hit Malik for two consecutive fours – a punch through cover and a pull through midwicket.
When Hardik smashed Aiden Markram for a six at long-on, it looked like he was ready to shift gears. However, he hit just one more boundary in his innings.
In the early part of the Titans’ innings, Bhuvneshwar Kumar could not get his radar right and conceded 17 runs in his first over, which also included a couple of wide boundaries. However, the experienced seamer removed Shubman Gill in his second over, who was brilliantly caught at cover by Rahul Tripathi. Matthew Wade’s poor run continued as he was caught in front of Malik; The Australian was beaten for speed on a ball thrown from around the wicket.
Though Washington Sundar went without a wicket, off-spinner and Marco Jensen turned things around during the middle overs for the 2016 champions, drying up the runs for Hardik and David Miller. The South African failed to hit a single boundary during his 15-ball stay.
Abhinav Manohar hit a six with a cameo (35, 21b, 5×4, 1×6) in a casual knock – he was dropped three times and had three boundaries. His innings gave the Titans something to defend against, but it was barely competitive.
Scoreboard:
Gujarat Titans
Matthew Wade lbw b Umran 19 (19b, 3×4)Shubman Gill c Tripathi b Bhuvneshwar 7 (9b, 1×4)Sai Sudarshan c Williamson b Natarajan 11 (9b, 2×4)Hardik Pandya (not out) 50 (42b, 4×4, 1×6)David Miller c Abhishek b Janssen 12 (15b)Abhinav Manohar c Tripathi b Bhuvneshwar 35 (21b, 5×4, 1×6)Rahul Tewatia 6 run out (4b, 1×4)Rashid Khan b Natarajan 0 (1b), Extra (lb-2, w-20): 22; Total (for 7 wickets. In 20 overs): 162.
fall of wickets
1-24 (Gill, 2.2 ov), 2-47 (Sudarshan, 5.4), 3-64 (Wade, 7.6), 4-104 (Miller, 13.3), 5-154 (Abhinav, 18.5), 6-161 ( Tewatia, 19.4), 7-162 (Rashid, 19.6).
Sunrisers Bowling
Bhuvneshwar 4-0-37-2, Jansen 4-0-27-1, Washington 3-0-14-0, Natarajan 4-0-34-2, Umran 4-0-39-1, Markram 1-0- 9-0.
Sunrisers Hyderabad
Abhishek Sharmac Sudarshan b Rashid 42 (32b, 6×4)Kane Williamson c Tewatia b Hardik 57 (46b, 2×4, 4×6)Rahul Tripathi retired hurt 17 (11b, 1×4, 1×6), Nicholas Pooran (not out) 34 (18b, 2×4, 2×6)Aiden Markram (not out) 12 (8b, 1×4), Extra (B-1, Lb-2, W-3): 6; Total (For 2 wickets. In 19.1 overs): 168.
fall of wickets
1-64 (Abhishek, 8.5 ov), 2-129 (Williamson, 16.1).
Titans Bowling
Shami 4-0-32-0, Hardik 4-0-27-1, Ferguson 4-0-46-0, Rashid 4-0-28-1, Nalkande 2.1-0-22-0, Tewatia 1-0- 10-0.
Toss: SRH; Mother: Williamson.
Sunrisers won by eight wickets with five balls to spare,