Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
On Tuesday, May 6, in match number 56 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, Gujarat Titans (GT) defeated Mumbai Indians (MI) by three wickets at the iconic Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, to keep their hopes alive of making the playoffs. After Will Jacks 35-ball 53 and key innings of 35 runs from Suryakumar Yadav, MI posted 155 on the board. Thereafter, GT looked in the game, but a couple of quick showers, and several halts, put MI back in the game. But a brilliant last over finish by GT batters helped them get two crucial points.
For the unversed, GT skipper, Shubman Gill won the toss and elected to field first. Thus inviting the hosts to bat first, GT bowlers dismissed the MI openers, Ryan Rickelton and Rohit Sharma cheaply, sending them back to the pavilion after scoring two and seven respectively. Thereafter, Will Jacks and Suryakumar Yadav did take the innings slowly and steadily and helped put up a decent score on the board.
A late cameo from Corbin Bosch, who played a 22-ball 27 helped them put 155 runs on the board at loss of eight wickets in their allotted 20 overs. For the bowling side, Sai Kishore picked two key wickets, whereas Mohammed Siraj, Arshad Khan, Prasidh Krishna, Rashid Khan and Gerald Coetzee - all got a wicket each to their name.
GT breaks MI’s 6-match winning streak in a rain interrupted thriller
During the 156-run target, the IPL 2022 winners, GT lost in-form batter Sai Sudharsan early, but with Shubman Gill at the crease, nothing looked out from here. Wicketkeeper-batter Jos Buttler joined Gill in the middle and the duo added over 50 runs for the second wicket, before Ashwini Kumar cut short Jos Buttler’s stay in the middle.
GT then called for Sherfane Rutherford, who walked out as an impact substitute and played a 15-ball 28 to help GT cross the 100-run mark with slight drizzle continuously hampering the game. While the game saw several halts with rain coming down a little heavy and eventually led the umpires to stop the play. After a little wait on the sidelines, the game resumed, but it saw the match inclining in favour of the hosts as Bumrah dismantled Gill and Shahrukh Khan.
With 31 needed in the last 18 balls, and GT behind by just two runs as per the DLS par score, Ashwini Kumar struck once again, dismissing Rashid Khan. With only a few runs needed for GT to get the two points, rain came back and this time, GT looked just behind the DLS par score as the umpires called for the covers once again with rain getting intense.
With time ticking, the umpires along with the captains called in for just one more over with GT needing 15 runs to pull it all off. With drama unfolding at Wankhede, Hardik Pandya gave the ball to Deepak Chahar and MI eventually failed to defend the total, losing by three wickets. With a must-needed win, GT climbed to the top of the points table, nearing their playoffs hopes.
