Gujarat Titans (GT) continued their dominance in the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) as they crushed Mumbai Indians (MI) by 55 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Tuesday (April 25).
Invited to bat first, the defending champions piled up a massive 207/6 in their allotted 20 overs with major contributions from Shubman Gill (56 off 34), David Miller (46 off 22), Abhinav Manohar (42 off 21) and Rahul Tewatia (20* off 5).
With the ball, the Titans performed exceptionally well as a unit to restrict MI to 152/9. Afghanistan’s spin duo of Noor Ahmad (3-37) and Rashid Khan (2-27) were the wrecker-in-chief, sharing five scalps between them.
After the game, Gujarat’s vice-captain Rashid heaped praise on his compatriot Noor, saying that the young spinner delivering match-winning performance with the ball is a great news for both GT and Afghanistan.
Talking about his own performance, Rashid said he was happy to get some wickets but needed to work on a few areas.
"It's good so far, few things I am working on to be more consistent with line and length. Happy that I got some wickets but at the same time, need to work on a few areas. Looking forward to the rest of the season as well. Those first 3 overs, managed to keep them quiet. As long as you're hitting the right areas, I feel it's pretty hard for the batters to go after. That was in my mind," Rashid Khan said in the post-match presentation ceremony.
"(On Noor Ahmad) It's great to have him in the side and sharing the bowling partnership with him since last year. That kid, he just wants to learn and he's working so hard. Last year the way he was working, bowling lots in the nets, kept asking the questions. Even when I was in the gym, he was coming to the gym and saying, 'let's bowl here in the gym.' At 1AM, 2 AM he was bowling with me in the gym. He wanted to get better and perform. He got the opportunity now and he's been delivering. I am so happy for him that he's delivering. It's a great news for GT and also for Afghanistan," he added.
Gujarat Titans will next face Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens on Saturday (April 29).
