IPL 2023 - Live Report: Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians, Ahmedabad

A 55-run win for the Titans, and they climb to No. 2 on the points table along with a big NRR boost. A terrific bowling performance that began with Hardik's wicket of Rohit followed by the Afghan spinners' squeeze.

Don't forget the Titans batting either, where they clawed out of a sticky position at 101/4 to eventually finish on 207. Three great batting innings in all, a Tewatia cameo, then Shami bowling spell, Rashid and Noor, and Hardik's new-ball spell too. They'll be mightily pleased.

The positives for Mumbai: Wadhera's knock, Tendulkar's new-ball bowling, and maybe Suryakumar's fluency. They stay on seventh.

That's all from tonight's live blog. Excellent discussion down below on Titans' batting.

With the result almost decided, the fans are now chatting among each other, their eyes not quite on the action. Even the Titans players have lost their edge a bit, with some misfields too - a dropped catch and a fumble inside the circle.

The only motivation for the fans now is to see Arjun Tendulkar bat. And they will get that with Chawla run out and Wadhera falling for 40.

That's how the two Afghan spinners finish their evening. The final wicket of the five goes to Noor himself, taking a stunning caught-and-bowled that prematurely ended a Suryakumar innings that had a lot of potential (atleast for entertainment sake). Rashid: 4-0-27-2. Noor: 4-0-37-3.

Meanwhile, Mohit Sharma has not had an enjoyable evening, but that's small matter for Titans. He's gone at almost 15 per over with Wadhera and Chawla going hell for leather with the pressure totally off for the two lower-order batters.

The Afghan prodigy follows the Afghan legend. Green picked up for 33 and Tim David for a duck. Tata Mumbai Indians. But I'd be delighted to be proved wrong.

Tilak Varma, the Impact Player, makes almost no impact. All class from Rashid, hurrying onto Tilak from a leg-stump line and getting him lbw.

For a few seasons, Rashid's wickets had dropped off even if he was menacing. This season his penetration has been superb, but more importantly the wickets have returned too.

These two wickets in one over have broken Mumbai's back. Mumbai 45/3 in eight overs

Rashid Khan has put the opener out of his misery. Struggled with timing, hitting just one four in 20 balls. Then falls to the wristspinner trying a big heave. Out for 13 with a strike-rate of 61.9. First time Rashid has dismissed Kishan in nine innings.

Titans hold all the aces now but Impact Player Tilak Varma could be the perfect man to face Rashid and Noor. Can also shield Green slightly. Mumbai 43/2 in 7.4 overs

Rohit tangled up with the ball shaping late after landing back of a length on leg. Cramped for space, awkwardly pulls, and that's high up. Hardik shares the new ball and strikes in his second over. Big jolt for Mumbai with Rohit gone cheaply. Perfect start for Titans after Shami's excellent first over that went for only two.

Here's Cam Green searching for a hat-trick of IPL fifties.

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This is a good total but Mumbai's batting has NOT been their problem. Rohit Sharma and Ishan Kishan have been great this season, with the captain getting off the blocks quicker than before and the youngster in good touch. This pair has scored at a strike-rate of 158, which is perfect for the powerplay atleast. Mumbai's ball-per-boundary ratio of 3.9 in the powerplay is excellent too.

Cameron Green is also entering the game after back-to-back half-centuries but he does have some problems against spin. Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed will be difficult for Green to navigate so that's a match-up to look forward to. Suryakumar Yadav is also back in good touch and Tilak Varma has been oh-so-good, especially against spin. Don't forget Tim David either.

Should be a good chase...

Record alert, fellas. Not only did Titans eventually cruise past 200 but also broke their own record for highest total by the franchise.

Behrendorff's mess from his misfield translated into his bowling in the 20th over with Tewatia launching two sixes. Then he twisted his knee/ankle and hobbled over to the other end. He stays unbeaten on 20 in five balls (with three sixes) with Miller falling in the penultimate delivery.

The last five overs went for 77/2. Titans post 207 for 6. Their batting line-up's potential got really unlocked today with Miller and Manohar dominating the middle overs well and Tewatia putting his trademark finishing touch. This will be a tough total to chase, more so with Rohit looking deflated by the end of the innings.

Some key performers from the first innings (good and bad) ⏬

Gill: 56 in 34. Hardik: 13 in 14. Miller: 46 in 22. Manohar: 42 in 21. Tewatia: 20* in 5.

Green: 2 overs for 0/39. Tendulkar: 2 overs for 0/9. Meredith: 4 overs for 1/49 Chawla: 4 overs for 2/34.

The poor guy finishes with 1-49 but Riley Meredith has conceded atleast 12 extra runs tonight (and also missed out on a wicket) with his fielders letting him down. First it was the Chawla misfield in his previous over that went for four. And then, after Tewatia hit him for six first ball, he forced a mis-hit from Miller. But Behrendorff goes all butterfingers at wide long on and the ball went for six instead. To add insult to injury, Miller hammers the 19th over's last ball for six.

Titans with a run-rate of 18 between overs 17-19. The fireworks at the ground are working overtime.

You know a batter is in good form when he slaps his thighs in annoyance while taking a single. Rohit Sharma made the bold move of going back to Cam Green despite a 17-run first over and of course Manohar's eyes lit up. Short ball pumped for six over square leg. Full ball tonked over long off for six more. And just to end the over, Miller gives a reminder that his eyes are fully set - 20/20 vision - for the final two overs with a maximum.

The 17th was also expensive but Meredith was a tad unlucky with a misfield that allowed a boundary. Titans would back themselves to get 30+ in the last two overs to be honest.

Twenty two runs off the over and Titans are 172/4 in 18 overs.**

**Manohar falls next ball and he looks so disappointed. Couldn't time the full toss but he's done his job. Out for 42 in 21 balls.

And Abhinav Manohar is to blame for that. After Kartikeya was hit by Miller for six, young padawan Manohar tore into Chawla. First ball, he creamed a drive through covers and in the next delivery, brought his bat down so beautifully to drive that even a present extra cover had no chance.

The icing on the cake was the six off the fifth ball. Manohar went up and over Chawla's head. Unlike the other batters' attempts, this one flew over the sightscreen. 97m. Their partnership is chugging along at a run-rate of over 10, which is perfect for Titans after their brief middle-overs muddle.

Behrendorff returns after eight spin overs are done, and packs the big boundary on Miller's leg side with outfielders. Titans 137/4 in 16. ESPNcricinfo's forecaster says Titans are on course for 178. They'd want to breach 190 ideally. 186 is the average for this ground in IPL 2023

Meanwhile, Chawla continues to prove age is just a number. Picks off Shankar, again to the straight boundary. That's the third dismissal down the V. The Titans batters back themselves to clear it, but proof is in the pudding, which is not happening.

Abhinav Manohar now with Miller and Titans are 103/4 in 13 overs

Its the kind of wicket where slogging won't work. More so with one side bigger than the other and bowlers using that while plotting their bowling lines.

Kumar Kartikeya would be disappointed getting hit for two fours and a six by Vijay Shankar after a quiet first over. That's the first real sign of any batter apart from Gill getting top of Mumbai's bowlers. It also papered over Gill's slow-ish progress to his half-century, getting there eventually in 30 balls. Remember, he was 31 in 16 earlier.

Kartikeya, though, has the last laugh. He tempts Gill to clear the straight boundary, and just like Hardik, Gill fails to do so. Gone for 56 in 34 balls. Interestingly, David Miller enters in the 12th over. Is it to ensure Titans continue getting momentum through overs 7-15? They prefer him much later in terms of an entry point, but he gets a boundary off his third ball to show his cards early.

Gill with a disgusted look from the non-striker's end as Hardik pumps the first ball after the powerplay straight to long off. The wily Chawla went full outside off and Hardik's eyes lit up. He wanted to break free from 13 runs in 13 balls, but paid the price for taking the fielder on.

We had talked earlier about Titans having the lowest run-rate (7.4) between overs 7-15 and how they would've liked to fix that. A wicket first ball after the powerplay doesn't help.

Vijay Shankar at No. 4. Oh Vijay Shankar at No. 4.

Shubman Gill has bounced back well after a duck in his last game. It was a sticky first few overs and yet he had managed to eke out two boundaries. But with Cameron Green bowling the powerplay's final over, Gill has really feasted on that final over. The six over long on was magnificent.

Green concedes 17 with Gill rapidly moving to 31 in 16 balls. Titans 50/1 after the powerplay with the home side yanking the momentum out of Mumbai's grasp after a quiet first five overs.

Chawla to bowl the seventh.

One day after celebrating his father's 50th birthday, Arjun Tendulkar enjoys some luck, getting Saha caught behind despite bowling wide outside leg. Another cheap first-wicket stand.

Hardik Pandya at No. 3. That got the crowd going. He developed as a middle and lower-middle order batter at Mumbai, but in IPL 2023, he has dropped his strike-rate and upped his average in a bid to play a longer game when needed. Its a good plan with some outstanding ball-hitters still left to come. But with him partnering Gill, I'd love to see whether he can bat like that Mumbai batter Hardik since Gill is the anchor.

The pitch is a bit sticky but good timing (like Gill's shots) will earn runs. Titans 17/1 in three overs with no boundaries yet in Tendulkar's spell.

Rohit Sharma wins the toss and chooses to bowl. There's a talk about "moisture" early on. Also no Jofra Archer, who has turned up unwell. Hardik accepts the moisture present but looks confident.

The big talking points for this innings would be:

- Can Gill and Saha put a strong partnership together? Both have done well individually but as a pair have failed to survive the powerplay. Titans have been lucky that when one has failed, the other has done well, but they'd love the openers to get a biggie. Together.

- Gill v spinners: Gill's 31 fours are the most for a batter since IPL 2022. He also has a strong strike rate (144) and average (67.2) against spin. His numbers in Ahmedabad are also impressive (SR 146, ave 49)

- Titans in middle overs: Titans have lost 12 wickets in six innings between overs 7-15 this season. They also have the lowest run-rate in that period (7.4). They need to score more freely in the period. Even the likes of Miller have struggled.

- Can Mumbai stifle Titans at the death? Their run-rate of 11.2 is the best in the last five overs, and have a solid average of 34 per wicket in the last five. All the Titans batters have chipped in at the death. Miller has stayed till the end in 3 out of 4 games. Shankar smacked KKR, Manohar exploded against Royals and Tewatia came good against Punjab.

- Can Mumbai's pacers stay tidy? Their combined economy this season has been 10.2. Only KKR's quicks have poorer numbers. They conceded 96 in the last five overs against Punjab. If they fail to do well tonight, they'll have to rely on Piyush Chawla's four overs once again.

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