AHMEDABAD: Fast bowlers Mohammed Siraj and Prasidh Krishna took two wickets each as Gujarat Titans thrashed IPL powerhouse Mumbai Indians by 36 runs for their first win this season on Saturday. Gujarat rode on Sai Sudharsan’s 63 off 41 balls to post 196-8 after being invited to bat first at the world’s biggest cricket stadium in Ahmedabad. Siraj then led the bowling charge to limit the opposition to 160-6 as five-time winners Mumbai went down to their second straight loss in the 18th edition of the T20 tournament. Siraj removed the Mumbai openers to dent the chase and Krishna hurt the middle-order to return figures of 2-18. Krishna, a fast-medium bowler who has played three Tests, 17 ODIs and five T20s for India, was named player of the match. “I was itching to bowl. We were sitting and watching how the first innings went. So we understood that cutters into the wicket were working well,” he said. Mumbai’s former captain Rohit Sharma started on the front foot with two successive boundaries but Siraj had the last laugh as he bowled the opener for eight on the fourth ball. Siraj was on fire when he bowled South African wicketkeeper-batsman Ryan Rickelton for six as the left-hander got an inside edge on to his stumps. Tilak Varma and Suryakumar Yadav attempted to rebuild in a third-wicket stand of 62 until Krishna struck to remove Varma for 39. Suryakumar hit 48 and smashed four sixes in an attempt to keep up with the ever-increasing scoring rate and along with skipper Hardik Pandya looked to pull things back. But the bowling remained disciplined and Krishna got his reward with Suryakumar’s wicket and South African quick Kagiso Rabada dismissed Pandya, for 11, as the chase fizzled out.
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