In a riveting competition seeming to favor a second rain break stop Gujarat Titans’ (GT) chase was stopped with only 24 runs left from 12 balls, therefore placing them at underdog status according to the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern (DLS) technique. But the rain stopped, and Gujarat’s goal was changed to 147, so they had to score 15 runs in the last six balls as play started just before the 00:30 local time cutoff. IPL often offers thrilling games like this to its fans.
Opening the last over, Rahul Tewatia hit a boundary; soon after, Gerald Coetzee hit a strong six, leaving the Titans just four runs from three balls. For the Mumbai Indians (MI), regrettably, bowler Deepak Chahar overstepped, allowing the Titans an additional run. Coetzee was caught on the penultimate ball, which brought the scores level. Despite Mumbai captain Hardik Pandya’s near miss on a possible super over chance, with a throw that fell short of hitting the stumps. The new batsman, Arshad Khan (who was mistaken for actor Arshad Warsi for bowler in 2nd April’s RCB vs GT), was able to get the important run from the last ball, winning the Titans by three runs under the DLS method.
On the commentary going on BBC Radio 5, commentator former English bowler Steven Finn said, “ It is quite remarkable. One Over, 15 needed, Coetzee hammered it for six, and the tables turned immediately. This game really did have everything apart from a super over.”
In the post-presentation ceremony, Shubman Gill, captain of Gujarat Titans, remarked, ‘There were a lot of emotions, most of them frustrating because at one point we were ahead of the game and it felt like one of these Test match sessions that don’t go your way. Everything worked out well for us.” He further added that even if there was a lot of chaos, it is games like these that actually get a team through in such a big tournament.
