Surya wins the match, Rashid wins hearts

Mumbai (Uttam Hindu News): Rashid Khan’s (4 wickets, 79 not out) heroic performance dwarfed Surya Kumar Yadav’s (103 not out) stormy unbeaten century and Mumbai Indians defeated Gujarat in the Indian Premier League (IPL) match on Friday. Recorded a resounding 27-run win against the Titans.

Batting first, Mumbai posted a challenging score of 218 for five, in reply Gujarat Titans could only manage 191 for eight in the stipulated 20 overs. At one point, Gujarat’s eight wickets had fallen for 103 runs and Mumbai’s victory seemed very easy, but Rashid, who had shown amazing with the ball, had the intention of doing something with the bat as well. By the time Rohit’s army realized the intention of the Afghan Pathan, the car had gone too far. Rashid created excitement in the match by hitting three fours and ten sixes in just 32 balls and looted the applause of the spectators present on the ground. However, they needed a few more overs to get to Mumbai’s mammoth score, which they were not allowed to do.

The dew did a great job of making Rashid’s job easier. The Mumbai bowlers were seen wiping the ball after each delivery. Akash Madhwal got three wickets while Piyush Chawla and Kumar Kartikeya took two wickets each.

Earlier, at the Wankhede Stadium, Surya Kumar’s bat was seen biting dust to the opposition bowlers. In front of Surya’s batting, the Gujarat bowlers were seen asking for water. Barring Rashid Khan (4/30), the charismatic Surya thrashed the remaining four bowlers. In his unbeaten century, Surya scored 11 fours and six sixes in just 49 balls. This was his first century of the current IPL season. Earlier on May 9, he played a blistering inning of 83 runs against Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).

Captain Rohit Sharma (29) and Ishan Kishan (31) started Mumbai aggressively but in the seventh over of the innings, Rashid created a stir in the host camp by taking both of them to the pavilion one after the other. Rashid took the wicket of Nehal Badhera (15) in his very next over to strengthen Gujarat’s grip, however, Surya Kumar, who was eye-catching at one end, created excitement by sharing a 65-run partnership with new batsman Vishnu Vinod (30), while the final In three overs, he made Cameron (2) stand at one end and added 54 runs to put the team in the driving seat.