Gujarat Titans have been batting and bowling well in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, which has helped them climb to the top of the table. On Friday, they fielded well too, which helped them to a 38-run victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Match 51 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Spinner Rashid Khan pulled off a brilliant catch to dismiss the dangerous Travis Head, running to his right, changing direction, and completing the catch while falling to the ground.
Our best performance in the field. We've dropped a few (catches) this season, but Rashid's catch set the tone. The guys at the top have been in great form.
The catch helped Gujarat Titans make the breakthrough and opened the gates for their defense of a total of 224/6 built on sensational top-order batting in which skipper Shubman Gill top-scored with 76 (38 balls, 10x4,2x6), Jos Buttler contributed 64 (37 balls, 3x4, 4x6) while Sai Sudharsan blasted a 23-ball 48.
The guys at the top have been in great form. Openers have traditional techniques and can occupy the crease. They took us by surprise actually with how fast they scored with classical shots. Sudharsan has a great head on his shoulders. Blown away by how good he is. He puts in the work and understands his game well. He's shown great consistency and is getting the rewards he deserves
It was great batting by Gujarat Titans as Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill raced to 82 for no loss in the power-play (first six overs) and then Gill and Jos Buttler built on that platform.
As they defended the target of 225, the catch picked by Rashid Khan off Prasidh Krishna packed off Travis Head for 20. Abhishek Sharma scored another half-century, his second on IPL 2025, his superb knock of 74 off 41 balls kept Sunrisers Hyderabad on course to victory.
But Ishan Kishan (13), Heinrich Klaasen (23), and Aniket Verma (3) were out while trying to bat around Abhishek but it did not work out and SRH could manage only 186/6 in 20 overs. Prasidh Krishna ended with 2-19 while Mohammed Siraj picked 2-33 to set up victory for Gujarat Titans.
Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Pat Cummins blamed the runs conceded in the power-play by his bowlers for the defeat.
Our powerplay with the ball wasn't great, I was guilty there. We gave away 20 too many there. Had to hang on to our catches throughout the middle, I was guilty there. Maybe chasing 200 would've been more realistic. They're class batters in GT. They don't do anything outlandish. If you bowl bad balls they put it away and we did dish up many bad balls. But they're quality, know this venue well. We weren't at our best. It was a really good wicket, going for 140 off the last 14 was a good effort from our bowling group.
With this win, Gujarat Titans moved to 14 points from 10 games and moved to the second position in the standings, the same as Mumbai Indians and Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB).
The defeat virtually ended Sunrisers Hyderabad's chances of qualifying for the playoffs. They have remained with six points from three wins in 10 matches.
Cummins said they have to cling on to some hope in the event.
Felt we were in the game with our batters. But in the end, it was a bridge too far. Abhishek batted nicely, and Nitish did well too. We left a bit too much for the batters. We have to cling to some hope. Big auction last year. This group will be together for three years, hopefully, so lots to play for. Great venue, very few empty seats, the crowd was nice and loud.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 224/6 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 76, Jos Buttler 64; Jaydev Unadkat 3-35, Pat Cummins 1-40) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 186/6 in 20 overs (Abhishek Sharma 74, Heinrich Klassen 23; Prasidh Krishna 2-19, Mohammed Siraj 2-33) by 38 runs.