Five-time champion Mumbai Indians will try to improve their death over bowling when they play a resurgent Gujarat Titans in their IPL encounter on Tuesday in Ahmedabad after having their three-game winning streak halted after a loss to Punjab Kings. After a recurring bad start, MI enjoyed a hat-trick of victories, but Punjab Kings ended their remarkable run on Saturday with a 13-run victory. Mumbai’s death over bowling fell short as they allowed PBKS to score 214 for 8 after giving up 96 runs in the final five overs. They will need to improve their bowling before the GT match.
Arjun Tendulkar, Jason Behrendorff, Cameron Green, and Jofra Archer, a speed four, were put under pressure because they all allowed more than 40 runs in their allotted overs.
However, the seasoned Piyush Chawla and his spin bowling partner Hrithik Shokeen have been on point, limiting the flow of runs while the former has claimed two wickets. The middle and top of MI’s batting order have looked outstanding, and they are currently scoring runs.
The majority of the time, the team has gotten off to a solid start thanks to Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan, but Suryakumar Yadav’s return to form is a great plus for MI, who have benefited from the overseas partnership of Cameron Green and Tim David.
Green and Suryakumar came close to winning the game against Punjab Kings with a 36-ball 75-run partnership before being undone by Arshdeep Singh’s miraculous overs in the dying stages.
The Titans also have a potent bowling attack, so things won’t get any easier for the MI hitters.
In their previous game against Lucknow Super Giants, GT demonstrated how to defend totals after being criticized for not being able to do so this season with a master class in the last overs.
The star of GT’s bowling was comeback kid Mohit Sharma, who won player of the match after successfully employing his variations against the Lucknow team.
With LSG cruising at 105 for 1 in 14 overs while chasing 136, GT was in a desperate situation. However, the bowlers, led by Mohit, held them off as he protected 12 runs in the penultimate over.
Veteran Mohammed Shami has also taken wickets with Mohit, who has been a revelation. Hardik Pandya, the captain, has only taken one wicket thus far, so he hasn’t exactly been on fire with the ball.
Gujarat’s spin department, under the direction of Rashid Khan, appears to be strong, with fellow Afghan wrist spinner Noor Ahmad and Jayant Thakur performing admirably against LSG.
The previous day, Noor claimed two wickets for just five runs in his final two overs to help GT win, while Jayant only allowed seven runs in his final two overs.
GT batsmen have lowered totals, but occasionally they have been guilty of failing to increase the score in middle overs.
While Hardik scored the most runs in their most recent game and Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill have scored runs at the top, GT fell roughly 10-15 runs short against LSG, primarily because of their sluggish batting in middle overs, which the club will need to rectify.
Additionally, GT might need to move its best foreign hitter up the order to allow David Miller more time in the middle.
