Ahmedabad: Gujarat Titans thrashed Sunrisers Hyderabad by 82 runs to occupy the top position in the Indian Premier League points table with a convincing all-round display here on Tuesday.
After half-centuries from Sai Sudharsan (61) and Washington Sundar (50) took the Titans to 168 for seven in a scrappy walk with the bat, Kagiso Rabada (3/28) moved into the SRH top order and Jason Holder (3/20) followed up with a 20th over in the PL20. the winners.
Chasing 169, SRH were bowled out for 60 thanks to Rabada’s seven with the new ball and Holder’s power-hitting, eventually returning for 86 in 14.5 overs to lose badly.
If a two-run wicket had made scoring difficult early in the contest, it was Rabada’s class throughout the batting SRH batting in the second innings, with the South African pacer picking up three wickets in his four overs – all bowled forward.
It all started with Mohammed Siraj (3-1-11-1) starting with a wicket maiden, first halving the shot under Travis Head with a jaffa and then driving a lead that flew to deep backward point.
Koka took the ball on the line down the leg and went hard at it. The ball was bowled to third man where Nishant Sindhu took an easy catch.
Abhishek Sharma (6) lofted Rabada over the infield for a six, but the bowler chased the left-hander as he tried to make room. Abhishek went down gently as the ball crashed into his wickets after hitting the bat.
Rabada was all over the SRH batting and none of them had an answer to his classic probing line and length.
In the fourth over, Ishan Kishan (11) couldn’t prevent a back when the ball got away from him, leaving SRH reeling at 23 for three.
While there was no fourth wicket for Rabada, he scored in his third trap in the final over of the powerplay, prompting R Smaran to hit a straight one to Shubman Gill at mid-on, with SRH trailing to 32 for four.
SRH’s slide continued even as Rabada was bowled out and Siraj removed the strike.
After patiently batting, Heinrich Klaasen (14) looked to go after one from Holder, but the ball not only stuck to the surface slightly, but also bounced higher than expected, taking an edge that was collected by Jos Buttler behind the wickets.
SRH’s hopes of going deep suffered another massive blow when Holder got Nitish Kumar Reddy (2) to play one, which also bounced extra and went straight to Washington Sundar at point, which left the visitors at 60 for seven.
Amidst all this, Prasidh Krishna was also 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 hit a laborious half-century while Washington Sundar chipped in with a fluent fifty to power the Gujarat Titans innings.
Sudharsan hit five fours and two sixes en route to a vital 61 off 44 balls to keep the Titans together, while Washington’s 33-ball 50 with seven fours and a six was instrumental in adding crucial late runs on a surface that required batting application.
While Praful Hinge (3-0-17-2) was the pick of the bowlers for SRH, Cummins returned a poor 4-0-20-1.
The SRH pacers kept a tight leash on the home team’s batsmen, who struggled to get going on the two-step surface, where they were bowled out for 100 by Mumbai Indians.
Sai Sudharsan reaped the rewards for his patience, capitalizing on scoring opportunities by putting together useful partnerships, including a crucial 60-run fourth-wicket stand with Washington Sundar.
It was Hinge who reaped the full benefits of a regular start with the ball for Sunrisers with two wickets in the powerplay as the Titans registered their lowest score of the season reaching 34/2 after six overs.
Gill (5) was lucky when Reddy couldn’t hold a return catch in his follow-up in the second over. But in the next, Gill took one of his pads down the middle where Heinrich Klaasen made a good low catch at third.
Hinge and SRH did not have to wait for a second breakthrough when Jos Buttler (7), looking to pick up the ball after moving through the wickets, took a thick edge that was comfortably collected by Ishan Kishan behind the wickets.
