IPL 10, Match 53, GL vs SRH: CT player of the match – Mohammed Siraj

Sunrisers Hyderabad entered an all important encounter against Gujarat Lions and Mohammed Siraj played a pivotal role in handing them a crucial victory. SRH had 15 points on the points table before the game and a loss would have put them in danger of being knocked out of a playoff spot. But a convincing win against GL ensured the defending champions will have the chance for another shot at the title.

SRH won the toss and opted to bowl but the decision seemed like firing back as the GL openers Dwayne Smith and Ishan Kishan went all guns blazing from the outset. There was no respite on the bowlers as the left-hand right-hand combination took the early advantage. The score was well past 100 inside 10 overs and both batsmen raced away to their individual half-centuries. They looked like getting to a huge score but suddenly the innings suffered a major collapse.

Smith was dismissed by Rashid Khan in the 11th over that opened the floodgates and the pacer Siraj then inflicted further damage. Here’s a look at his outstanding performance from the match:

A not so good start

Siraj bowled the second over of the GL innings but was taken to the cleaners by the openers. In the first over, Ishan Kishan smashed him for a six over the deep backward square leg and in total, the bowler went for 9 runs. In the second over, he was hit by the same batsman for 2 consecutive boundaries and later, Smith too joined in the act to collect one more boundary that made it 13 runs from the over. His figures were dented to 22/0 in 2 overs but it wasn’t him only who received a hammering but most other bowlers too went for runs.

A Comeback with a double strike

The daunting opening partnership was ended by Rashid but the in-form Ishan Kishan was still at the crease and the Lions had the upper hand as long as he was batting. But in the very next over of Smith’s dismissal, Siraj ended his run and ensured there were no further damages done by him. A beautifully disguised slower delivery induced a top edge that gave an easy catch to the wicket-keeper Naman Ojha and Ishan had to make the long walk back after scoring 61 off 40 balls.

Two balls later, the GL skipper Suresh Raina played a skier towards deep backward square leg where Shikhar Dhawan took the catch and gave Siraj his second wicket in the over. The departure of Raina turned out to be the body blow for GL and they failed to recover after that. The over went for just 2 runs that included two crucial wickets that ultimately proved to be the decisive one. From 22/0, now Siraj had 24/2 after 3 overs.

The Happy ending

Siraj came back to bowl the 17th over of the innings when the batsmen were looking to up the ante. He was struck for a boundary off the first ball by James Faulkner but 4 balls later, the bowler got his revenge as he castled the batsman with a delivery full and straight that swung in late. It was an important wicket in the context of the game as Faulkner could be dangerous during the slog overs.

Very next ball, the new batsman Pradeep Sangwan failed to counter the pace and swing of Siraj and another in-dipper dismantled his stumps and departed for a duck. That was the last ball of Siraj’s spell that read 32/4 after 4 overs. The regular blows from the bowler halted the progress of GL’s innings who once threatened to set a target of over 200. From 111/0, they were all-out for 154 and most of which was influenced by Siraj.

SRH didn’t have too much trouble in chasing the total and the fifties from the skipper David Warner and Vijay Shankar took them past the line by 8 wickets having 11 balls in hand. Mohammed Siraj for his wonderful spell is CricTracker’s player of the match and earns a rating of 4 out of 5.