Formidable Mumbai Indians thrashed resurgent Gujarat Lions in a tight finish by six wickets on Sunday, in an Indian Premier League (IPL) encounter at Wankhade Stadium in Mumbai.
The hosts achieved the target in 19.3 overs, as Kieron Pollard registered 39 off 23 balls and skipper Rohit Sharma, who had low string of scores on his back, in first four matches, scored unbeaten fine 40 off 29 balls, to see his team home alongside Hardik Pandya (6* off 3 balls).
Pollard and Rohit put up crucial 68 runs for the fourth wicket, before skipper gave a finishing touch to the target with a couple in their backyard, in a bid to mark fourth consecutive win out of five matches so far.
Munaf Patel, who was playing first time in IPL since 2013, conceded seven runs in his first over for Gujarat Lions before sending Butler back to the pavilion when he tried to get the maximum while going downtown.
Butler was caught by Brendon McCullum at the long-on region on 26 off 24 balls.
Having the left and right-hand combination, Nitish Rana (53 off 36 balls) played a significant knock while accelerating the innings for Mumbai Indians alongside Jos Butler to post 85 vital for the second wicket after they were 0 for one.
In 10th over, the 23-year-old Rana, who scored second fifty of this season, tried to cut the ball which took the faint edge of his bat to see Dinesh Karthik completing the regulation catch behind the stumps.
The left-handed batsman Rana was livid with himself while trudging off the ground after Andrew Tye claimed the prized scalp.
While coming to chase down the target of 177, Mumbai Indians lost wicket-keeper batsman Parthiv Patel (0 off 2 balls) in the very first over of the second innings when leading edge found Jason Roy completing a catch on the second attempt at backward point region, on the bowling of Parveen Kumar.
Interestingly, Dwayne Smith was also dismissed on the very second ball of the first innings of Gujarat Lions.
In the very second over, Jason Roy put down a sitter off Nitish Rana on the bowling of Basil Thampi, when the ball ballooned up in the air after finding the top edge of Rana’s bat, as he was surprised by the pace and bounce.
As the Mumbai Indians fans swarmed in with the flags on the very hot afternoon, the hosts’ skipper Rohit Sharma won the toss and decided to bowl first.
Before Gujarat Lions batsmen would’ve taken to the field, their skipper made an announcement at the toss that top-order batsman Aaron Finch has lost his kit-bag which further enforced the side to include Jason Roy in the Playing XI.
Coming to the bat, the visitors didn’t have a good start when Dwayne Smith was dismissed by Mitchell McClenaghan on nought after Nitish Rana completed a decent catch.
However, it was wicket-keeper batsman Dinesh Karthik, who put on the skating shoes to see his team post 176 on board alongside Jason Roy (14 off 7 balls).
Karthik scored 48 off 26 balls to help his side in posting the competitive total against the formidable Mumbai Indians. For the two-time champions, Mitchell McClenaghan was the pick of the bowler, who claimed two wickets after giving away 24 runs in his four overs.
Moreover, off-spinner Harbhajan contained the Lions’ batsmen while giving away 22 runs in his four overs to claim a wicket. Malinga looked out of sorts, as he conceded 51 runs to claim McCullum before Bumrah gave away 45 in his four and Hardik Pandya went for 15 in one over.
Bowling with such control, the left-arm spinner Krunal Pandya sent down three overs to give away only 18 runs.
Earlier, swashbuckling batsman Brendon McCullum scored 64 runs off 44 balls which was laced with six boundaries and three sixes.
McCullum, who completed his 12th IPL fifty, put on 80 runs on the board for the second wicket alongside Lions’ skipper Suresh Raina to stable the visitor’s innings on a batting friendly wicket.
On the other side, Suresh Raina was sent back to the pavilion by experienced customer Harbhajan Singh when Rohit Sharma completed a catch. The left-handed Raina scored 28 off 29 balls.
In 14th over, McCullum was undone by Lasith Malinga on a searing fuller-length which went through his bat and a pad when latter tried to play the shot on his onside.
Ishan Kishan was removed by Mitchell McClenaghan when Krunal Pandya took a catch, to put an end to wicket-keeper batsman’s innings (11 off 14 balls).