Gujarat Titans recorded a thrilling six-run win against Mumbai Indians in their opening IPL 2024 game at Ahmedabad's Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. A late comeback from Gujarat pace bowlers helped the 2022 winner defend 162 runs against their former captain Hardik Pandya.
Mumbai's winless streak in the first match of the IPL season now extends to 12 games. Hardik won the crucial toss and elected to bowl first but failed to impress with a bat and ball on his infamous return to Ahmedabad.
Jasprit Bumrah, who missed the 2023 edition due to injury, enjoyed a successful return to IPL. The star pacer took three wickets while conceding just 14 runs to complete 150 career wickets for Mumbai Indians.
Suryakumar Yadav failed to recover for the opening game as Mumbai handed IPL debuts to Naman Dhir, Shams Mulani, Luke Wood and Gerald Coetzee. Gujarat Titans surprisingly left out returning Kane Williamson but handed first caps to new signings Umesh Yadav, Spencer Johnson and Azmatullah Omarzai.
Gujarat's runs came from last season's emerging hero Sai Sudharsan who played a sensible knock of 45 off 39 balls. Gill started well by scoring quick 31 runs but was not able to convert it into a big knock.
Mumbai Indians struggled for a start while chasing a manageable total with opener Ishan Kishan going out on a duck off Omarzai in the very first over, Dhir made his debut and came to bat at the no.3 role and smashed 20 off just 10 balls to keep the game alive.
Rohit Sharma and impact sub Dewald Brevis then added 77 runs for the third wicket to keep Mumbai on track for an easy chase. Mumbai seemed favourites going into the death overs but Mohit Sharma turned the game in the 18th over with Tim David's wicket and then Spencer Johnson took two wickets in the following over.
Umesh Yadav conceded a six and four from Hardik Pandya on the first two balls of the last over when Mumbai needed 19 runs to win the game. But the veteran pacer dismissed Hardik and Chawla on back-to-back deliveries and then conceded only two runs off the last two balls.
Gujarat Titans Playing XI: Shubman Gill (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sai Sudharsan (substituted by Mohit Sharma), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Umesh Yadav, Sai Kishore, Spencer Johnson.
Mumbai Indians Playing XI: Rohit Sharma, Ishan Kishan (wk), Tilak Varma, Naman Dhir, Hardik Pandya (c), Tim David, Shams Mulani, Piyush Chawla, Gerald Coetzee, Jasprit Bumrah, Luke Wood (substituted by Dewald Brevis).
