Left-arm spinner R Sai Kishore (1/24) trapped a dangerous-looking Rohit Sharma (43 off 29b; 7×4, 1×6) in front in the 13th over.Veteran pacer Mohit Sharma (1/32) had Dewald Brewis (46 off 38b; 2×4, 3×6) caught off his own bowling while Afghan leg-spinner Rashid Khan threw in two miserly overs to apply the choke on Mumbai Indians, who lost yet another opening match.
Afghan pacer Azmatullah Omarzai had earlier dismissed opener Ishan Kishan (0) and number three batter Naman Dhir (20) to leave Indians at 30/2. Sharma and Brewis stitched together a strokeful 77-run partnership for the third wicket to put the Indians in ascendancy before they lost their way in the middle overs.
Earlier, Mumbai Indians’ pace spearhead Jasprit Bumrah delivered four masterful overs of T20 bowling to stifle Gujarat in their much-anticipated clash. Bumrah showed what the five-time champions missed in the last edition as the local boy recorded figures of 3/13 to help restrict the Titans to 168/6 in 20 overs.
If not for southpaw Rahul Tewatia’s 15-ball 22 (2×4, 1×6), which included an 19-run over off left-arm pacer Luke Wood, Titans were staring at a below-par total.
At the toss, Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya called correctly and elected to bowl first. Opening the proceedings, his first ball was cut to the point boundary by opener Wriddhiman Saha while new captain Shubman Gill too clipped him neatly off his legs for another boundary in the opening over.
With the ball holding up in the pitch slightly, run scoring was difficult and the introduction of Bumrah in the fifth over saw the pacer clean up Saha for 19 (15b; 4×4) with a yorker.
Though Gill (31 off 22b; 3×4, 1×6) hit left-arm spinner Shams Mulani for a six and four in his first over, he was finding it difficult to up the ante and in a bid to break the shackles, he tried to loft leg spinner Piyush Chawla over the fence, only to be caught by Rohit Sharma.
Gill’s middling contribution meant Titans were looking at a less than competitive total. New Afghan recruit Azmatullah Omarzai (17) was undone by the pace of South African Gerald Coetzee while Bumrah outfoxed David Miller (12) with a slower one.
Southpaw Sai Sudharshan, who held one end up with a vital contribution of 45, was also caught by Tilak Varma in the deep off Bumrah’s bowling.
It was not until Tewatia, who smacked a six and two boundaries over the third man of the 18th over bowled by Wood, that Titans managed to cross 150. Coetzee (2/27) and Bumrah closed out the innings giving away just 14 runs from the two overs to keep the Titans to 168.
