Titans back on track

Gujarat Titans roared back to winning ways with a 38-run mauling of Sunrisers Hyderabad after Prasidh Krishna's outstanding bowling complemented Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler's explosive half-centuries in the Indian Premier League here on Friday.

The result meant SRH are all but out of the playoffs race, even as GT boosted their prospects.

The trio of Gill, Buttler and Sai Sudharsan fired in unison to propel GT to 224 for six. In reply, SRH were off to a good start too but could not sustain for long and were stopped at 186 for six. Abhishek Sharma top-scored for SRH with 74 off 41 balls.

This was after Gill blazed away to a 38-ball 76, and Sudharsan chipped in with a breezy 23-ball 48 while forging an opening stand of 87 runs in just 6.5 overs, following which Buttler took GT past 200 with his 64 off 37 deliveries.

Prasidh once again excelled with the ball for GT, finishing with excellent figures of 2/19 in 4 overs. The only cause of concern for GT this evening came when Ishant limped off the ground after failing to complete the final over.

SRH, though, meant business at the start of their innings as Mohammed Siraj (2/33) went for 22 runs in his first two overs, while Ishant Sharma conceded 20 in his first two.

However, a spectacular catch in the deep by Rashid Khan ended Travis Head's innings after he covered a lot of ground to reach the ball, having run from deep square leg and then change his direction to judge it to perfection.

Ishan Kishan got out for 13 after consuming 17 balls, as the required rate went over 14.

Despite the presence of Abhishek and Heinrich in the middle for SRH, the match was already in GT's bag thanks to the asking rate that gone past 16.

Meanwhile, an upset Gill engaged in an animated chat with the two umpires over a review call involving Abhishek, who was seen trying to calm the GT captain.

Sent in to bat, Gujarat skipper Gill got the innings underway with a flick off a loose Mohammed Shami delivery for a six. Having conceded 11 runs in the first over, Shami looked off-colour as Sudharsan dispatched the seamer for five boundaries, including four on the trot.

Pat Cummins brought himself into the attack, but the carnage continued as Gill launched into his opposite number, first greeting him with a cover drive and then playing an even better shot shot through the gap between mid-off and cover.

The best part of their game was that both Gill and Sudharsan were toying with the SRH bowlers without taking any risks and instead relied on class to get the runs.

GT amassed 82 runs in the power play, following which spin was introduced in the form of Zeeshan Ali and the leg-spinner gave his team a much-needed breakthrough by having Sudharsan caught by keeper Heinrich Klaasen off a googly.