El Clasico couldn’t happen because of a great century from Shubman Gill, which was his third in four games. Defending winners Gujarat Titans beat Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier to get back to the final. Gill put on a show in the first half of the game and went over 800 runs for the season while the Titans scored a huge 233. Even though Mumbai Indians did well in their chase, which was impressive given how many setbacks they had to deal with, they finally lost by 62 runs when Mohit Sharma came in at the end.
Before the storm, all was quiet.
MI decided to bowl first because it had been raining, which had caused the game to start late. And, just as we thought, it wasn’t easy to bat on. The starters had a hard time. Even though the Titans scored a huge total, they were only able to score 27 runs in the first four overs of the powerplay. Wriddhiman Saha was also hit in the head once. In the last two overs of the powerplay, the two openers finally got going, getting them to 50. Then, Piyush Chawla went right into the attack. He bowled a ball down leg that caught Saha out. The rate of runs had slowed down, and after 8 overs, Titans were 64-1.
The party of six
Gill then turned up the pressure and hit Chawla right on the top of the head before bringing up his fifty. But once he got past that point, he went completely crazy. Akash Madhwal, who had taken nine wickets in his last two games, was treated with disrespect as Gill hit him for three sixes in one over to quickly reach the 80s.
The attack just didn’t stop. He hit Chawla for 18 runs in four deliveries to get to 98, and then he hit a remarkable hundred in just 49 balls. The destruction kept going on as he tore apart the MI bowling team until he hit 129. On the way, he ended up breaking record after record and also getting the orange cap.
Where did the other end go?
When Sai Sudharsan came back to the XI, he had the best seat in the house because he was on the other side of the field. But he was still amazing, and he made some great shots. He was part of a huge partnership of 138 runs, but he ran out of steam right at the end. So, in the end, the Titans put him out of action to give Rashid Khan a chance. Hardik Pandya did the most damage, though. He hit an unbeaten 28 off of only 13 balls, which helped Titans go over 230.
MI’s crazy powerplay
This kind of power play doesn’t happen very often in the IPL. MI had 72 runs on the board after six overs, but they were still behind at that point. Ishan Kishan couldn’t bat first because of an accident. The effect sub, Nehal Wadhera, was taken out of the game very early. Rohit Sharma skied a terrible shot, giving Mohammed Shami his second wicket.
Cameron Green was hit in the arm, and the game was called off. At that point, the score was 21/2, but it might as well have been 21/4. But Tilak Varma came out swinging and got 24 runs off of Shami in his third over. This was the start of a blazing counterattack by MI that changed the game around. Then, in the last over of the power play, Rashid castled the young left-hander for a quick 14-ball 43.
What happened to them after the PP?
Green, who had to leave the game because he was hurt, came back as soon as Varma was taken out. He and Suryakumar brought MI back into the race. Green hit Noor Ahmad for a six, and then Suryakumar went after Rashid in the next over. MI had 123 runs on the board at the end of the 11th over and needed 111 runs in the last 9 overs. At this point, anyone could win, especially since Rashid had already bowled three overs.
Then Josh Little joined the attack and gave the Titans a break by casting Green at a crucial time in the game. As an injury replacement, Vishnu Vinod got off to a slow start, and Suryakumar scored a fifty at the other end. In the last six innings, MI needed 85 runs to win. With only Tim David left in the bench, this didn’t look likely.
Mohit cleans.
Mohit Sharma hadn’t bowled a single over yet, but he was finally put into the attack in the 15th over as an expert in the “death overs.” And he did it in grand style, as Suryakumar was bowled for 61 when he totally missed a ball while trying to ramp it. The loss of Vishnu Vinod in the same over as his wicket was a big blow to MI’s chances. Rashid got David caught lbw, and then Mohit came back and tricked the lower order with slower deliveries, so they all missed their shots. This gave the bowler a stunning five-fer, and Titans easily made it to the final.
Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 233/3 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 129, Sai Sudharsan 43; Suryakumar Yadav 61, Tilak Varma 43; Mohit Sharma 5/10) beat Mumbai Indians 171 in 18.2 overs (Tilak Varma 43, Suryakumar Yadav 61; Mohit Sharma 5/10) by 62 runs.
