IPL 10, Match 16, Mumbai Indians vs Gujarat Lions: 5 Tracking Points

Mumbai Indians the master of chases won the toss and decided to do the same again. Rohit Sharma and co were going into the game with their tails up as they had just beaten RCB and Gujarat Lions were also back on track after a comprehensive win over Rising Pune Supergiant.

The form of Rohit Sharma was a major concern for Mumbai and Gujarat Lions still had a lot to work on even after their win. However, after getting off to a slow start to the game Gujarat hit back at Mumbai and posted a solid total of 176 leaving Mumbai to 177 to chase. However, the form Mumbai are in it looks like they can chase down any total. Brendon McCullum stepped up for Gujarat today after his partner Dwayne Smith was sent packing for zero and made sure his team had a good total to defend.

The game was pretty much poised until the last moment and was quite entertaining. Let us break it down into five Tracking points and get into the details.

#1) Gujarat gets off to a slow start:

After winning the toss and choosing to field first, Mumbai came out with intent and bowled a pretty good line and length with the correct pace as well.  The pitch was two-paced and it was tough for the batter to get on with it right from the word go. The visiting team lost one of their destructive openers Dwayne Smith for a duck as they were reeling at 1 for 1 after the first over.

This slow start continued as McCullum and Raina were finding it hard to score runs and the power play was not being utilized at all. However, McCullum and Raina stabilized the innings and the shaky start was behind them as the duo started to hit the right note.

#2) McCullum and Karthik ensure a good total for Gujarat:

After a shaky start, McCullum took the matter into his own hand and started to get boundaries. The trademark shimmy down the pitch came into play as the man from New Zealand started upped the ante. He soon reached his fifty of just 36 deliveries. He went on to score 68 of just 44 deliveries before passing the baton to Dinesh Karthik.

Dinesh Karthik was in the mood today. He played some magnificent shots at the death of their innings making sure Gujarat were well past 150. Any total beyond 180 would have been tough to chase on this pitch and Dinesh took them as close as he could. The man from Tamil Nadu scored a brisk 48 of 26 deliveries to take Gujarat to 176 for 4 in their twenty overs.

#3) Mumbai gets off to a shaky start:

After bowling well to restrict the destructive batting lineup of Gujarat to a 176, Mumbai’s chase got off to a bad start as they lost their opener Parthiv Patel on the second delivery of their innings. Patel departed without troubling the scorers. Jos Buttler and Nitish Rana then had a task on their hands and walked Mumbai out of trouble.

The pair then started to stitch a partnership which went on to shape the result of the game as Niteesh and Jos hung in there and made sure they laid a proper foundation for their pinch hitters to come and finish the game off.

#4) Nitish Rana scores a fabulous half century

Coming into bat as early as the third ball of the innings and making sure his team wins the game is quite impressive for a young player. Nitish Rana the man from Delhi helped his team out of the trouble and scored a brilliant half century. He and Buttler webbed an 85 run partnership to walk Mumbai out of the early misery.

Rana scored 53 of 36 deliveries hitting four graceful boundaries and two massive sixes in the process while Buttler departed for a handsome 26 of 24 deliveries.

Also read | Twitter Reactions: Mumbai Indians register another successful run chase

#5) Rohit Sharma gets back in form and takes him team victory:

The captain of Mumbai Indians was determined today, right from the first ball he was innovative in his field placings and rotated his bowlers well. However, Rohit was always captaining the team well the thing that concerned him was his batting form.

Rohit had the scores of 3, 4, 4, and 0 before this game and wanted to get some runs under his belt. He got the opportunity to do so today and he took it. He took his time as he batted under the cover of Pollard who was striking the ball well and scored a match-winning 40 runs of 29 deliveries and took Mumbai to a six-wicket victory over Gujarat Lions.