Titans’ Victory: Mohit, Noor, and Rashid Dominate Sunrisers in IPL 2024 Clash
Gujarat Titans secured a commanding victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad, thanks to stellar performances from Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, and Rashid Khan in a thrilling encounter at Ahmedabad’s IPL 2024 match.
Shubman Gill, David Miller, and Sai Sudharsan all helped to the easy chase in Ahmedabad.
Sunrisers Hyderabad 162 for 8 (Samad 29, Abhishek 29, Mohit 3-25, Noor 1-32) lost to Gujarat Titans 168 for 3 (Sai Sudharsan 45, Miller 44*, Cummins 1-28) by seven wickets.
In contrast to the ODI World Cup final, Pat Cummins did not make the correct decision when he won the toss in Ahmedabad. The Gujarat Titans easily chased Sunrisers Hyderabad’s score of 162 for 8, making it 11 wins out of 12 for home teams in the IPL 2024.
The orange team’s key batsmen were limited to a score below average by Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma, and former Sunriser Rashid Khan. As the evening progressed, the Titans were able to win thanks to the efforts of Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and David Miller.
Noor and Rashid Show
Because a midday start in Ahmedabad would provide a dry surface that would aid spinners, Cummins wanted Sunrisers to use the pitch first. With anticipation of the same, the Titans benched quick bowler Spencer Johnson to make room for left-arm wristspinner Noor to make his season debut.
Before the opener could cause significant damage, Noor got a googly to rattle Travis Head’s stumps in his opening over. On this surface, Noor’s googly was especially effective. While giving up just ten runs, he bowled 13 of them. With the help of a few late hits from Sunrisers, his stint of 1 for 32 handed Titans their first lead of the match.
Rashid, the older Afghanistan teammate, was also buoyed by Noor’s bowling. Rashid had just given up 49 runs against the Chennai Super Kings in his previous game, but he began Sunday’s term with an early 15-run over thanks to two sixes from Abhishek Sharma.
But Rashid came back with a bang to keep Heinrich Klaasen quiet, and ultimately he removed him too, smashing the stumps in the fourteenth over with a nimble legbreak. The next over, Rashid contributed equally to Aiden Markram’s removal by lunging forward to finish a challenging catch that was coming in from long on. In addition to that catch, he went 1 for 33 and contributed to Abdul Samad’s run-out in the last over.
Economical Mohit
They fell after getting set this time, in contrast to the Mumbai Indians game, where every Sunrisers hitter who had a start made a spectacular play. Maybe the intention was to maximize the number of runs that a strong batting order could produce, but they were out of the game before the big blow.
Abhishek was one among them; he was sliced for 29 by a Mohit cutter. By getting a length ball wide and forcing a mishit to cover, Mohit slowed things down and forced an error from Abhishek. Mohit finished his opening spell with 1-12 after bowling another clean over against Klaasen and Markram, with the surface helping pace-off deliveries. Titans saved the remainder of his overs till the end, and he demonstrated why they do so by taking two more wickets and giving up just 13 extra runs.
Sunrisers’ failure to score more than 40 runs in their final five overs was mostly due to Mohit. His repertoire of unconventional delivery methods proved to be highly effective, with the exception of one instance where he gave up a complete toss.
With just 163 to chase after hitting out Shahbaz Ahmed and Washington Sundar in the 20th over, Mohit took a well-earned respite before being replaced by Sudharsan for the second innings.
Titans Top Three Shines
Similar to the Titans, the Sunrisers changed their strategy from the previous game by selecting Washington over Umran Malik as the impact player. They also used Shahbaz’s left-arm orthodox spin to begin the bowling innings.
However, it soon became apparent that the pitch had loosened as the afternoon wore into the evening. In typical Wriddhiman Saha flair, he attacked the new ball right away, hitting his old Bengal teammate Shahbaz for a six in the first over.
Subsequently, he dashed across the field to promptly dismiss Bhuvneshwar Kumar and graciously accepted Umesh Yadav’s gift of a complete toss over the leg side. Saha went to Shahbaz in the fifth over, but his 13-ball 25 had given Titans a fast start and given Gill time to settle in.
After the powerplay, Gill quickly increased his score by hitting 25 runs off his following 16 balls, up from just 11 in his first 12 balls. To keep the score moving in between safe grounded shots, he depended on the odd boundary. Gill did what Saha suggested him do, allowing the No. 3 Sudharsan to relax, even though he holed out for 36 immediately after the first time-out in the tenth over.
At first, Sudharsan found it difficult to contain Markande and Cummins. However, in the twelfth over, he turned things around when he drove over mid-off to earn his second boundary against Jaydev Unadkat. After that, he hit Cummins and Washington with three balls in a row, and as he came down the track, he hit Markande for six with his finest stroke. In the 17th over, Cummins did remove him for 45 with a slower ball, but by that point, victory was all but assured.
Miller Provides Finishing Touch
After two incredible years of Twenty20 cricket, Miller’s year in 2024 has been forgettable. His strike rate of 119 going into the game was the lowest it has been in 13 years, and it appeared that he was having trouble when he failed to reach a boundary in his first 16 deliveries. However, there was a brief respite as Miller received care for a minor ailment. He seems to have changed after it.
Due to his limited movement, Miller decided there was no point in holding back and took advantage of Markande’s regular full-and-wide deliveries to score 26 runs in the 16th over. In the 17th, he then chose to smash both of Cummins‘ slower balls for four. Additionally, Miller watched Unadkat’s opening delivery of the 20th ball land in his arc and, predictably, he blasted it out of the park to end the innings undefeated at 44.
