Gujarat Titans (GT) on May 30 paid the price for poor fielding as they suffered a 20-run defeat at the hands of five-time Indian Premier League (IPL) winners Mumbai Indians (MI) in the eliminator clash. Skipper Shubman Gill departed early in the run chase of 229. Sai Sudharsan and Washington Sundar stabilised the run chase but returned to the pavillion before slog overs as GT managed to post 208/6. After GT's elimination from the tournament, head coach Ashish Nehra's son was seen crying inconsolably.
The families of GT players and coaching staff were distraught in the stands at Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium, Mullanpur, New Chandigarh.
Earlier, temporary replacement player Kusal Mendis and Gerald Coetzee dropped catches of Rohit Sharma as he went on to score 81 runs off 50 balls.
Gill rues dropped chances
After the loss, Gill blamed fielders for dropping easy catches in powerplay overs.
"Last three or four overs didn't go our way, but still a very good game of cricket. Not easy when we drop three sitters, especially in the powerplay. Not easy for the bowlers to control," Gill said in the post-match presentation.
Gill lauded his opening partner Sai Sudharsan for his terrific run. He felt that 229 was above par target on the Mullanpur pitch.
"The message was simple: just play the game you want to play. The goal was the same for both [Sai Sudharsan and Washington]... Lot of positives for us. Last two or three games didn't go our way, but credit to all the players - especially Sai; he was terrific. I think 210 was par on this pitch," Gill said.
Sudharsan leads orange cap race
While GT have been eliminated, Sudharsan became fifth batter to score 750 or more runs in an IPL season. The southpaw scored 759 runs from 15 innings at an average of 54.21, including one century and six half-centuries. He may end up winning the orange cap this season. The next batter in contention is MI's Suryakumar Yadav who has 673 runs from 15 innings.