IPL 2023: Shami, Mohit star as GT qualify for playoffs
Defending champions Gujarat Titans qualified for the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) playoffs with a massive win over Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. The Titans successfully defended 188/9, with Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma sharing eight wickets. Shami wreaked havoc in the Powerplay, while Mohit dented SRH at the death. Shubman Gill's historic century laid the foundation for GT's win.
Shami completes 20 wickets in IPL 2023
Once again, Shami powered GT with a phenomenal spell in the Powerplay. The senior pacer dismissed Anmolpreet Singh, skipper Aiden Markram, and Rahul Tripathi to put the Titans on top. Shami finished with figures worth 4/20 in four overs. With this, he became the first pacer to complete 20 wickets in the ongoing IPL season, the spinners being Rashid Khan and Yuzvendra Chahal.
Shami owns 15 PP wickets in IPL 2023
Shami raced to 15 wickets in the Powerplay in the ongoing IPL season. He has bowled 35 overs in this phase and averages just 15.86. Shami has an economy rate of 6.80 in the first six overs.
Another four-fer for Mohit
Like Shami, Mohit also continued his phenomenal run and took four wickets. He conceded 28 runs in four overs. This was his third four-fer in the IPL. His best figures of 4/14 came for Chennai Super Kings in 2014 against Mumbai Indians. In IPL 2023, Mohit has claimed 17 wickets in 10 matches with an exceptional average of 13.53.
A look at other notable numbers
This was just the third instance of an IPL game recording two four-fers in an innings. The other two came in 2012 (Munaf Patel and Kieron Pollard for MI vs RR) and 2015 (Mitchell Starc and Srinath Aravind for RCB vs PBKS). As many as 17 wickets were taken by the pacers, the most ever in an IPL match.
How did the match pan out?
GT lost Wriddhiman Saha early after SRH elected to field. Gill and Sai Sudharsan then shared a 147-run stand. However, none of the other batters scored in double figures as GT faltered at the death. Bhuvneshwar Kumar's fifer meant GT were restricted to 188/9. In reply, SRH couldn't get the desired start, managing 154/9 eventually. GT won despite Heinrich Klaasen's fighting fifty.
