New Delhi: Gujarat Titans (GT) bagged their first win in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 after thrashing the Hardik Pandya-led Mumbai Indians (MI) by 36 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Saturday, March 29. Sai Sudharshan continued his purple patch with the bat for GT before their pacers dominated the proceedings to wrap up a convincing win for their team.
Gujarat Titans comfortably defended a total of 196 runs after a disciplined effort from the bowlers. Pacers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna starred for GT with two wickets apiece. Siraj ran riot with the new ball as he got rid of both MI openers – Rohit Sharma (8) and Ryan Rickelton (6) cheaply to get his team off to a flying start with the ball.
Siraj cleaned up Rohit with an excellent delivery in the very first over before rattling Rickelton’s stumps in the 5th over to reduce MI to 35/2. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav combined to rescue MI after the openers’ failure with a brilliant partnership of 62 runs for the 3rd wicket. The stand was broken when Prasidh got the better of Tilak after he scored 39 off 36 balls.
The right-arm pacer then sent back Robin Minz cheaply on just 3 to pile more misery on Mumbai Indians. Suryakumar played a valiant knock of 48 runs, but his effort was not enough as the Mumbai Indians eventually fell short in the run chase. Captain Hardik Pandya walked in at no.6 for MI with the team needing 89 runs off the last 7 overs in the 197-run chase.
However, he failed to deliver despite taking his time to settle down and was eventually dismissed on 11 off 17 balls as Mumbai Indians were eventually restricted to 160/6 in 20 overs to lose the game by 36 runs. It was an excellent performance from GT pacers, with Siraj and Prasidh picking up two wickets each for the team. Rashid Khan failed to get a wicket but conceded only 10 runs off his 2 overs to create pressure on the MI batters.
GT opener Sai Sudharsan notched up his second half-century in a row as he continued his prolific run against Mumbai Indians. Sudharsan combined with his opening partner and skipper Shubman Gill to get GT off to a solid start after the hosts were asked to bat first in the game. The duo added 78 runs for the first wicket before Hardik Pandya got rid of Gill on 38 off 27 balls.
Sudharsan continued to hold one end strongly and added another important stand of 51 runs for the second wicket with Jos Buttler, who scored 39 off 24 balls. The left-hander finished with a brilliant 63 off 41 balls laced with 4 fours and two sixes and helped the Gujarat Titans post a strong total of 196 runs on the board. It was his second fifty in a row having smashed 74 runs in GT’s opener against Punjab Kings.
