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Pat Cummins-led Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) went down to Gujarat Titans (GT) by seven wickets in their Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 encounter in Ahmedabad on March 31. With this, SRH recorded their second defeat in the ongoing season of IPL as their only win came against Mumbai Indians when they notched the highest ever total in glitzy league's history.
SRH apparently failed to defend the 163-run target as GT batters overhauled the challenging total with five balls and seven wickets to spare.
Meanwhile, SRH skipper Pat Cummins rued his team's underwhelming performance, especially batters. Cummins highlighted that none of the SRH batters could score a fifty-plus score. Despite good starts from several batters, SRH were restricted to a modest 162/8.
Heinrich Klaasen provided a spark with a quickfire 24 off 13 balls but was unfortunately dismissed by a straighter delivery from Rashid Khan at a critical moment. Abhishek Sharma also contributed with a 29-run knock off 20 balls. Abdul Samad played a valuable cameo, scoring 29 runs off just 14 balls. He adopted an aggressive approach from the start, hitting some important boundaries to keep SRH's innings alive. However, Mohit Sharma's bowling proved decisive in the final over. He picked up two crucial wickets in two balls, restricting SRH to a meagre three runs in the last over.
In the post match presentation Cummins said:
“Good match but we got 10-15 less. They bowled well. Losing a couple of wickets meant we couldn't get a batter not making fifty plus. It happens, it was probably the difference,” Cummins said after the match.
“[Him coming in late to bowl] Today it was a case because we thought the wicket would slow up a little bit and off-cutters would become more effective, which they were. [Would he have changed the toss decision] No, I thought the wicket played the same in both innings. It's T20 cricket, batters have had fantastic couple of games. The boys looked good but were stifled by the wickets,” he added.
The Titans kicked off their 162-run chase in style, spearheaded by captain Shubman Gill and wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha, who put up a 36-run partnership off just 25 balls. Saha contributed a quick 25 runs from 13 balls before being taken out by a delivery from Shahbaz Ahmed. However, Shubman didn't slow down and found a new ally in Sai Sudharsan, with whom he knitted a 38-run stand in 30 balls. Then, David Miller stepped in to join Sai Sudharsan, and together, they created the game's most impactful partnership, adding 64 runs in just 42 balls. Sudharsan's stint came to an end after a well-made 45 runs off 36 balls, falling to SRH captain Pat Cummins. Vijay Shankar then walked in to support Miller, batting at the fifth position and striking two boundaries to finish not out on 14 runs. Miller, too, remained unbeaten, tallying 44 runs from 27 balls, and clinched the win for the Gujarat Titans with a decisive six, ensuring a dominant victory over the Sunrisers.
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