Suryakumar Yadav storm hit Wankhede again as he smashed a scintillating 103* off 49 to power Mumbai Indians to a 27-run win over Gujarat Titans in Match 57 of TATA IPL 2023 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.

Suryakumar Yadav smashed 11 fours and six sixes on his way to his maiden IPL century (103* off 49 balls) as Mumbai Indians posted a daunting 218/5. Impact Player Akash Madhwal then led the way with the ball with 3/36 as Mumbai Indians restricted GT to 191/8 but not before Rashid Khan went on a six-hitting spree, hammering 10 maximums on his way to his highest T20 score of 79* off 32 after he had starred with the ball in the first innings with 4/30.

Chasing 219, Gujarat Titans were rocked early as they lost three wickets inside four overs. MI’s Impact Player Akash Madhwal struck in his first over as he trapped Wriddhiman Saha LBW. Jason Behrendorff then got the big wicket of Hardik Pandya as he had him caught behind in the next over. Vijay Shankar started off well and cracked a couple of fours off Madhwal but the MI pacer struck back and cleaned up Gill (6 off 9) in the same over.

Shankar looked in good touch and continued his aggressive approach as he cracked three fours in a row off Behrendorff. But he couldn’t continue for long as Piyush Chawla cleaned him up with a brilliant googly as he walked back for 29(14). Gujarat Titans were five down in the next over, the 8th of the innings, as Kumar Kartikeya cleaned up Abhinav Manohar as he missed his pull off a faster one. GT trudged to 83/5 at the halfway stage.

The wicket-flow didn’t stop as Akash Madhwal trapped David Miller LBW which he unsuccessfully reviewed and then in the next over, Chawla had Rahul Tewatia caught at deep square leg and then Kartikeya cleaned up Noor Ahmad as GT were left tottering at 103/8.

Rashid Khan came out fighting and smashed a 21-ball fifty. He kept going to smash his highest T20 score of 79* off 32 balls, hammering 10 sixes and three fours, but chasing down 218 with regular wickets falling was always going to be a bridge too far as GT fell short by 27 runs.

Earlier, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to field. They made one change to the starting eleven as Alzarri Joseph replaced Shubman Gill. KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Sai Kishore, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill were named as the away team’s substitutes.

Mumbai Indians made one change to the starting XI as Vishnu Vinod replaced Akash Madhwal. They named Ramandeep Singh, Akash Madhwal, Dewald Brevis, Sandeep Warrier and Hrithik Shokeen as their substitutes.

Ishan Kishan and Rohit Sharma got MI off to a brisk start. Kishan showed first signs of aggression as he thumped one over mid off, off the last ball of the first over from Mohd. Shami for a four and then Rohit opened his boundary account cracking one through cover-point for a four off Mohit Sharma and then lofting one two balls later over mid off for the second four of the over. He then smashed the last ball over deep square leg for a six to make it 14 runs off the second over. The sixes arrived thick and fast as Kishan and Rohit hit a six each off Shami in the third over to accumulate 17 off the over. Titans pulled things back a bit for the next two overs. Kishan then ended the Poweplay well with two fours off the sixth over as MI reached 61/0 at the end of the Powerplay.

Rashid Khan then turned the tables as he sent back Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan in the same over. Rohit (19 off 18) was caught at slip while Kishan (31 off 20) was trapped LBW. The in-form Wadhera got off to an attacking start with a four and a six off Noor Ahmad but Rashid came back to dismiss him as he chopped one onto the stumps.

MI reached 96/3 at the halfway mark. After a quiet over, Vishnu Vinod and Suryakumar Yadav went on the attack, hammering a six each off Alzarri Joseph and then hitting a couple of fours and a six off Shami to make it 15 off the over. Suryakumar Yadav smacked a four and a six off Joseph as the pair brought up the 50-run stand. Mohit finally broke the 65-run stand as he had Vishu Vinod (30 off 20) caught at deep square leg.

Suryakumar then brought up his fifty off 32 balls with a four off Rashid Khan. Tim David too hit a four in the over but Rashid bounced back to have David caught and bowled.

Suryakumar then went berserk, clobbering three fours and a six off Mohit and then taking on Shami, hitting a six and two fours to make it 37 from two overs.

Suryakumar needed 13 runs in the last over to reach his maiden IPL century and he did it, smashing a couple of sixes off Joseph, including a last ball six to reach his century. He remained unbeaten on 103 off 49 balls and powered Mumbai Indians to 218/5.

Akash Madhwal was introduced as MI’s Impact Player, replacing Vishnu Vinod while Shubman Gill was introduced as GT’s Impact player in place of Mohit Sharma at the start of the 2nd innings. (Tex: IPL / Pix AFP)