Yesterday IPL Match Result: Pacers take Gujarat Titans to top as SRH bowled out for 86 chasing 169

AHMEDABAD: The Gujarat Titans bowling attack has been quite brilliant in this IPL season and it rose to the occasion once again at the Narendra Modi Stadium to take the team to the top of the IPL points tally and within touching distance of a playoffs berth.

The sluggish black soil pitch might have had something in it for the bowlers, but it was a special show from the likes of Mohammad Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Jason Holder and Prasidh Krishna as they decimated the powerful Sunrisers Hyderabad batting lineup. The Titans won by 82 runs defending only 168.

Siraj (1/11) started the SRH collapse when he had Travis Head caught at third-man in his first over off an outside edge. Rabada (3/28) then ran through the rest of the toporder, getting Abhishek Sharma, Ishan Kishan and Smaran Ravichandran within the Powerplay to make it a no-contest.

The only thorn could have been Heinrich Klaasen, but once he was dismissed by Holder with the score reading 56-6, the game was done.

While the match was won by the pacers, the Titans batters played their part in posting a competitive 168/5. With the ball holding slightly and batters finding it hard to hit through the line, the hosts rode on half-centuries from opener B Sai Sudharsan (61 off 44 balls; 5x4, 2x6) and Washington Sundar (50 off 33 balls; 7x4, 1x6).

Invited to bat, GT captain Shubman Gill endured a rare failure. He was caught at midon by Heinrich Klaasen off Praful Hinge, who replaced left-arm spinner Harsh Dubey. No. 3 batter Jos Buttler (7) was also tied down by accurate bowling from Cummins, Nitish Kumar Reddy and Hinge.
Forced to abandon his trademark down-the-ground shots, Buttler tried to manufacture scoring options behind the wicket. One such attempt brought about his downfall. His attempted scoop off Hinge produced a faint edge to Ishan Kishan, who successfully reviewed a wide call to have Buttler caught behind.

The arrival of Nishant Sindhu (22 off 14 balls; 3x4, 1x6) gave GT some momentum as he struck a four and a six off Reddy in the first over after the Powerplay, forcing Cummins to bring himself on and Sindhu, looking to up the tempo, drove him straight to Klaasen at long-off as GT laboured to 68/3 at the halfway mark.

Sundar and Sudharsan also found the going tough as the SRH bowlers rarely wavered from their line and length. The pair kept the scoreboard moving with singles, twos and the occasional boundary, adding 60 off 41 balls to give GT’s innings some shape.