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After registering a win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 on Sunday, Gujarat Titans (GT) all-rounder Washington Sundar expressed his delight after playing exceptional innings in the 19th clash of the ongoing 18th edition of the cash-rich league.
Sundar played a quickfire cameo of 49 runs from just 29 balls, which was laced with five boundaries and two maximums in his innings. The 25-year-old cricketer scored these runs at a staggering strike rate of 168.97. The left-hand batter came out to the middle in the fourth over of the chase when the Gujarat Titans were struggling at 16/2, where the side lost its two experienced batters, Sai Sudarshan (5) and Jos Buttler (0), very cheaply. From 16/2 in 3.5 overs, the southpaw, along with captain Shubman Gill, built a key partnership of 90 runs from 56 balls. This partnership helped the visitors to an easy win over Pat Cummins-led side by seven wickets at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium in Hyderabad. Speaking after the match, the Chennai-born player revealed what Shubman Gill told him when he came out to bat in the middle along with him. "It is better of you calling all the adjectives. Skipper told me to bat as deep as possible and wanted to finish the game for my team. This has been the trend in Hyderabad in the last few years, the wicket gets a little better so easier to chase 160-170. I was aware if it and it helped me. Coach asked me to go in at 4, especially after we lost a couple of wickets in the early overs. It was a rare opportunity for me, and I loved my time in the middle," Washington Sundar said in the post-match presentation. Coming to the match, SRH was put to bat first after GT won the toss. The top order of Travis Head (8), Abhishek Sharma (18), and Ishan Kishan (17) was poor once again as the side was reduced to 50/3. A 50-run stand between Nitish Kumar Reddy (31 in 34 balls, with three fours) and Heinrich Klaasen (27 in 19 balls, with two fours and a six) and a cameo by skipper Pat Cummins (22* in nine balls, with three fours and a six) lifted SRH to 152/8 in their 20 overs. Prasidh Krishna (2/25) and Sai Kishore (2/24) were also impressive with the ball. GT started the 153 run chase in a shaky way, losing two wickets for 16 runs. However, sensational 90-run stand between skipper Shubman Gill (61 in 43 balls, with nine fours) and Washington Sundar (49 in 29 balls, with five fours and two sixes) took the match away from SRH in one big swoop and finishing was handled expertly by Sherfane Rutherford (35* in 16 balls, with six fours and a six) as target was chased down with 20 balls and seven wickets in hand. Siraj was announced the Player of the Match for his exceptional bowling performance. (ANI)
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