Suryakumar's maiden IPL ton powers Mumbai Indians to 218/5 against Gujarat Titans

Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan set the tone early on with their aggressive approach. But Rashid threatened to steal the game by sending both the opener back in the same over and soon completed his four-wicket haul (4/30).

But Surya had his own plans as he made sure to remain at the till the very last ball and took MI to a commanding position with an unbeaten 103 off just 49 balls, laced with 11 boundaries and six maximums.

Putting into bat first, MI got off to an electrifying start with the opening pair of skipper Rohit and Ishan dealing in sixes and fours, collecting 37 runs in the first three overs.

An over later, Rashid Khan almost trapped MI skipper as he appealed for caught behind but was turned down. GT captain Hardik Pandya immediately reviewed the decision. The UltraEdge though showed no spike as the ball passed the bat. The third umpire had a look at the lbw as well, and confirmed that the ball was missing the wickets.

Then, Ishan hammered two boundaries to take the Powerplay total to 61 for no loss.

Rashid bounced back after the break as he struck twice to dismiss both the MI openers and ended the 61-run stand in the seventh over to shift the momentum.

Rohit looked to block off the front foot but the ball turned away sharply before taking the outside edge, deflected off the keeper's pads, and Rahul Tewatia at first slip pouched it safely.

Then, the Afghan spinner removed Ishan through lbw. The opener tried to slog it away but was beaten by the turn. The ball went on to crash into the pads and after a loud appeal, the umpire raised his finger.

Nihal Wadhera started off with a classy shot that went for a boundary through mid-off and launched it straight back over the bowler's head for a maximum, taking 15 off the eight over.

The next over Rashid struck again and found his third victim in the form of Wadhera, who went on the back foot to cut but unfortunately, the ball got the inside edge and went on to hit the stumps. At the halfway mark, MI were 96 for the loss of three wickets.

Then, Vishnu Vinod and Suryakumar Yadav got into the rebuilding act with their attacking shots, collecting 55 runs in the next five overs and together stitched the 65-run fourth wicket stand.

Mohit Sharma bowled a brilliant 16th over and broke the dangerous-looking partnership by deceiving Vinod on a slower ball.

Surya began the 17th over with a square leg for boundary and completed his fifty. The same over Rashid claimed his fourth wicket as he caught and bowled Tim David cheaply for 5.

Surya continued with the onslaught as he took GT bowlers to cleaners and brought up his maiden IPL hundred with a six to deep square leg on the last ball and took MI to 218/5 in 20 overs.

Brief scores: Mumbai Indians 218/5 in 20 overs (Suryakumar Yadav 103 off 49, Vishnu Vinod 30 off 20; Rashid Khan 4/30) against Gujarat Titans

--IANS

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( 571 Words)

2023-05-12-21:48:02 (IANS)