Ahmedabad: Gujarat Titans outclassed Sunrisers Hyderabad by 82 runs to take the top position in the Indian Premier League points table with a compelling all-round show here on Tuesday.
After half-centuries from Sai Sudharsan (61) and Washington Sundar (50) took the Titans to 168 for seven in a scratchy outing with the bat, Kagiso Rabada (3/28) ran through SRH’s top-order and Jason Holder (3/20) followed up with an incisive spell to script a fifth consecutive victory for the IPL 2022 winners.
Chasing 169, SRH collapsed to 60 for seven courtesy Rabada’s exploits with the new ball and Holder’s inroads post the powerplay, eventually rolling over for 86 in 14.5 overs to lose heavily.
If a two-paced wicket had made run-scoring difficult at the start of the contest, it was Rabada’s class all over the belligerent SRH batters in the second innings, with the South African pacer snaring three wickets in his four overs — all bowled upfront.
It all began with Mohammed Siraj (3-1-11-1) starting with a wicket-maiden, first cutting the impact sub Travis Head into half with a jaffa and then inducing a leading edge which flew all the way down to deep backward point.
Head fetched the ball bowled on line down the leg and went hard at it. The ball ballooned to the third man where Nishant Sindhu took an easy grab.
Abhishek Sharma (6) lofted Rabada over the infield for a six down the pitch, but the bowler followed the left-hander when he tried to make room. Abhishek fell meekly as the ball crashed into his wickets after hitting the bat.
Rabada was all over the SRH batters and none of them had answers to his probing classical line and lengths.
In the fourth over, Ishan Kishan (11) could not prevent edging one behind when the ball nipped away from him, leaving SRH reeling at 23 for three.
While there wasn’t any fourth wicket for Rabada, he snared his third in the final over of the powerplay, getting R Smaran to hit one straight to Shubman Gill at mid-on, with SRH crawling to 32 for four.
SRH’s slide continued even as Rabada was bowled out and Siraj taken off the attack.
Having batted patiently, Heinrich Klaasen (14) looked to go after one from Holder but the ball not only stuck onto the surface a little but also bounced higher than anticipated, taking a leading edge which was collected by Jos Buttler behind the wickets.
SRH’s hopes for taking it deep suffered another massive blow when Holder had Nitish Kumar Reddy (2) playing one which too bounced extra and went straight to Washington Sundar at point, which left the visitors at 60 for seven.
Amid all this, Prasidh Krishna also was among the wickets, taking 2/23 in his three overs.
SRH skipper Pat Cummins’ 19 was the highest individual contribution in their innings.
Earlier, Sai Sudharsan struck a dogged half-century, while Washington Sundar chipped in with a fluent fifty to power Gujarat Titans’ innings.
Sudharsan cracked five fours and two sixes on way to a vital 61 off 44 balls to hold the Titans together, whereas Washington’s 33-ball 50 with seven fours and a six was instrumental in adding crucial late runs on a surface which demanded application from the batters.
While Praful Hinge (3-0-17-2) was the pick among the bowlers for SRH, Cummins returned a measly 4-0-20-1.
The SRH pacers kept a tight leash on the home team batters who struggled to get going on the two-paced surface where they had been bowled out for 100 by the Mumbai Indians.
Sai Sudharsan reaped the rewards for his patience, capitalising on scoring opportunities while stitching together useful partnerships, including a crucial 60-run fourth-wicket stand with Washington Sundar.
It was Hinge who reaped full benefits of a tidy start with the ball for the Sunrisers with two wickets in the powerplay, as the Titans recorded their lowest score of the season reaching 34/2 after six overs.
Gill (5) was lucky when Reddy could not hold on to a return catch on his follow through in the second over. But in the next, Gill flicked one off his pads towards mid-on where Heinrich Klaasen took a fine low catch in the third over.
Hinge and SRH did not have to wait for a second breakthrough when Jos Buttler (7), looking to scoop the ball after moving across the wickets, got a thick edge which was comfortably collected by Ishan Kishan behind the wickets.
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