Gujarat Titans (GT) reclaimed top spot on the IPL 2025 points table after beating Mumbai Indians (MI) by three wickets in a rain-marred affair at the Wankhede Stadium on Wednesday (May 6).
Asked to bat first, MI posted 155/8 on the board, courtesy of Will Jacks’ half-century (53 off 35) and valuable contributions from Suryakumar Yadav (35 off 24) and Corbin Bosch (27 off 22).
In reply, the Titans were 132/6, needing 24 runs off the last two overs, before rain returned at the Wankhede Stadium. However, as the play resumed, GT were given a revised target of 147 (15 off 6 balls), which they achieved on the final ball.
While skipper Shubman Gill was the top scorer with 46-ball 43 on a tricky pitch, the likes of Jos Buttler (30 off 27), Sherfane Rutherford (28 off 15) and Rahul Tewatia (11* off 8) played handy knocks to pull off a nail-biting win.
In the post-match presser, MI head coach Mahela Jayawardene conceded that his side erred in execution and lost the game despite being in control, adding that the five-time champions will treat every remaining match as a “playoff" from hereon.
“I think it sums it up. It is margins, but I probably, both teams made quite a few mistakes out there in the middle and we probably made more than them," Jayawardene told reporters.
“We were in a situation when we were (having) five games, four losses (and) one win. From that point onwards, we were (in a) must-win (situation in) pretty much every game. We had a really good run. The tournament’s tough and one good thing is we’re playing teams which is in that bunch, so we probably control our own destiny.
“We were probably 30 runs short on that wicket and the guys bowled really well, created a lot of opportunities, fielded really well (and) fought for everything so that’s good signs and we’ll treat every game as a playoff game for us now," he added.
In the final over, Deepak Chahar conceded a four and a six and also bowled a no-ball as GT managed to get over the line.
However, Jayawardene said MI lost control of the game when they were still on top and that was the reason for their defeat and not Chahar’s flop show in the final over.
“I could have bowled (Will Jacks) Jacksy, Karn Sharma, or whoever (was) left (with) overs, but I think Deepak did that job for us in the first few games as well. He was good, main bowler. (It) could have gone (our way)," Jayawardene said.
“It’s easy for you to ask me that question and for me to say, yeah, maybe Hardik. (But he had) gone for three sixes, (then) you would have asked me why didn’t you bowl Deepa so I don’t like to go to that."
“It wasn’t the decision, it was the execution and that’s not where we lost the game. My thinking is (that) we lost the game when we had control of it and that was disappointing," he remarked.
Meanwhile, GT’s assistant coach Parthiv Patel defended his middle and lower-order batters after they struggled to chase a moderate total on a batting-friendly surface.
“They hardly got a chance to bat. Today was the only day where none of the top three got a fifty. Otherwise, till today, everyone had got those runs. It’s just a one-odd game. But having said that, we obviously should have taken some of the right decisions," Patel said.
“We still want to improve. We still want to get better once the business end of the tournament starts," he added.
(With PTI Inputs)
