IPL 2025, Review MIvGT: Close Loss To Gujarat Titans Hurts Mumbai Indians
After narrow loss to Gujarat Titans in their rain-affected 12th Indian Premier League match on Tuesday, Mumbai Indians are now in a tricky situation in the remaining two games to qualify for playoffs. They have 14 points and face another playoff contenders Punjab Kings and Delhi Capitals in their remaining fixtures.
Gujarat Titans notched up their fourth consecutive win over Mumbai Indians and also ended their six-match winning streak with three-wicket victory on Tuesday. MI now travel to Dharamshala and their travel plans and preparations may hamper due to airport closures.
MI ended on the losing side on Tuesday after a topsy turvy game in which fortunes fluctuated every now and then. The hosts lost two early wickets, then Will Jacks and Suryakumar Yadav lifted them with 71-run stand before middle-order collapse. Corbin Bosch's clinical finish ensured MI scored at 155/8 to give their bowlers something to defend.
Trent Boult gave MI a great start by sending GT's top scorer Sai Sudharsan early but skipper Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler combined in 72-run stand to lift their chances after an ordinary powerplay. Sherfane Rutherford's lusty blows ensured they stayed ahead on DLS method when rain stopped play for around half an hour after 14 overs.
Jasprit Bumrah and Boult swung the pendulum in hosts favour with three quick wickets and Gujarat Titans were behind when rain returned to stop play for the second time, scoring just 25 in four overs and losing four wickets. Rahul Tewatia and Gerald Coetzee then took Gujarat closer in the last over when they required 15 runs as per DLS method as game was curtailed to 19 overs.
The visitors prevailed on the last ball in a dramatic fashion with skipper Hardik Pandya missing a direct hit to sum up a sloppy game from fielders of both the sides. Pandya had earlier bowled a 11-ball over conceding 18 runs to give Gujarat momentum. Deepak Chahar who bowled last over bowled a crucial no-ball after conceding a four and six.
Mumbai Indians’ head coach Mahela Jayawardene admitted his side erred in execution.
“Probably, both teams made quite a few mistakes out there in the middle and we probably made more than them. It was the execution where we lost the game. My thinking is (that) we lost the game when we had control of it and that was disappointing,” Jayawardene said in the post match press conference.
Hardik Pandya-led side had just one win in five games and made a remarkable comeback to win six games and occupy top slot momentarily.
“The tournament’s tough and one good thing is we're playing teams which is in that bunch, so we probably control our own destiny,” he added.
Gujarat Titans top order has scored heavily in the tournament and their middle order and lower order was hardly tested until Tuesday. They succumbed under pressure and almost folded before rain came to their rescue and equation changed after rain. GT's assistant coach Parthiv Patel defended his batters.
“They hardly got a chance to bat. Today was the only day where none of the top three got a fifty. Otherwise, till today, everyone had got those runs. It's just a one-odd game. But having said that, we obviously should have taken some of the right decisions," he said.
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