GT vs SRH highlights, IPL 2024: Gujarat Titans beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 7 wickets in Ahmedabad

Thank you sir for reminding me that I’m getting older day by day (chuckles). Practice is normal but the important thing is how to use the variation according to the game situation. Bowlers do have variations but it matters when and how to use it. It’s important when you have two balls in mind, the batters are also ready, they are ready for the slower bouncer but they are not ready for the slower short ball wide of the wicket so I mix and match. Dew is uncontrollable and we practice bowling with a wet ball. When it’s going good, I enjoy. When the match gets over, I like to reflect where I did well and where I didn’t. Rashid and Noor bowled well, we went for a few runs in the back end but we came back well in the final few overs.

To be able to win two matches at home, great. Hopefully we will have good momentum. The way our bowlers bowled in the middle overs, especially Noor and Rashid is a world-class bowler, and the way Darshan bowled a couple of overs was superb. (On Mohit) He's such an experienced player, especially on wickets like these. He comes in, bowls those yorkers and slower balls. In this heat, it's easier to score with the new ball. Our plan was to make them hit the slower ball to the longer side. (On his dismissal) The ball was there to be hit, I was backing my shot, but the ball hit the bottom of the bat. In T20, you have to keep your options open. We thought 160-170 would be a good score. Credit to all the bowlers to restrict them to that score. Everyone knows their roles, Sai has been playing well, Wriddhi bhai does well and Miller is back in form. Just cramps (on Miller's status).

I'm happy that my contribution helped the team win, so definitely happy. It was a difficult wicket to play the fast bowlers, bowling into the pitch was hard to score off, so we decided to target that one over of spin. Great contributions from Mohit bhai and Rashid bhai, picked crucial wickets and restricted the target by around 10-15 runs. Playing in front of the home crowd is a plus point for us. Everyone wants to get more runs, I just want to contribute my best, milestones will happen by itself.

Good game of cricket, was tight in the end, probably we needed 10-15 more runs. I think they bowled well, just losing a couple of wickets, didn’t have that one person who kicked on to get a fifty, that happens. Today it was, we thought the wicket was going to get a bit slow, the off-cutters did grip, we had 8 bowling options in our side. I thought the wicket played the same in both innings. It’s T20 cricket isn’t it? Had a fantastic couple of games with the bat, today we didn’t quite click.

Well, Miller did play an excellent inning but SRH would be kicking themselves as the final overs went. Especially the over from Markende which was huge and essentially turned the game in favour of GT. While it is not panic stations yet for SRH there are things which they can improve upon and as per GT while it is a win they too have things they can improve upon. 

In the 15th over of the run-chase, David Miller limped to complete a single. There was a quick visit from the physio too. It hasn't been the best of starts to the season for him and he was struggling for momentum until then, batting on 13 off 16 balls with the required rate climbing. 

Freed up somehow, in the 16th over, Miller teed off. Taking on leggie Mayank Markande, a hobbling Miller turned the heat on, scoring a four off the first ball, perfectly piercing the gap on the leg side. In a mirror image of that shot, he then hit a four through the offside. He finished the over with a six down the ground. It remains to be seen if he has picked up a serious injury or if he'll be alright to continue, but on Sunday, it was finally Mille time in IPL 2024.

GT needs 7 runs from the last two overs. It has been a clinical chase from them and SRH would be looking at that defence and would be thinking of a couple of moments where they could have been better. As per GT, it has been similar to SRH batting innings everyone chipping in with a contribution. 

Though Cummins picked up the wicket of Sudharsan it Miller did slam him for a couple of boundaries. It is down to the skipper and Unadkat himself from here on to make a match of it however it looks a bit far too fetched and GT will bag two points here. 

Well, that might be the game right there. Markende has given a big over which essentially has now brought down the chase to run-a-ball. What a knock from David Miller who seems to be suffering from an injury. As we update Cummins picks up Sudharsan.

Bhuvi is done for the day. He bowled a decent over and the figures read better today than what has been this tournament thus far. Also, Cummins has still one over of spin that he needs to get through it will be interesting to when he will use it. 

Bhuvneshwar Kumar has been brought into the attack for the final over. One thing Gujarat has done well is they have not panicked kept the scoreboard ticking over and did not play outrageous shots to stamp their authority. 

Sudharsan plays one through third man for a boundary. Much needed one for GT as things were going at a sedate pace for a while. We have a strategic time-out now. It will be interesting to see if there is any tactic GT will come up with to counter this slower ball attack. 

This is good from SRH. They are sucking the momentum out of this chase. They are bowling slower ones and ball after ball and not letting the batters free their arms. This is the passage of the play Titans need to be very careful especially Sudharsan who is struggling with pace.

Excellent over from Cummins he comes in and bowls a slower ones into the pitch. This is where the challenge begins for the Titans and the need to try and keep getting a boundary every over instead of keeping runs at the end to score which might be extremely difficult to do. 

Shubman Gill departs after the break. He tries to take Markende down to the ground however, holes out at long-on. This is turning out to be excellent from Cummins. He has used his resources to perfection thus far. As we update Cummins has brought himself into attack.

Sundar overdoes his leg-stump line as he delivers outside the leg-stump and Gill times it for a boundary through fine-leg for a boundary. Much needed release over for Shubman Gill and GT under the circumstances. We might see Cummins bringing himself into the attack after the strategic time out. 

This has been a good passage of play for SRH. Since the wicket of Saha, the scoring rate has gone down significantly. It is a very similar pattern what to the SRH innings followed in the first innings however, the difference is they did not have anyone anchoring the innings and Gill might look to do it for GT in the 2nd innings. 

Sundar has been brought into the attack and he delivers a tidy over first up. He bowled quicker through the air and attacked the pads of the batters not letting them get any room to play free arms and play shots.

Bhuvi closes out the Powerplay with a decent over however, Sudharsan in the middle of the over played a lovely shot through the leg-side which ran away for a boundary indicating that the left-hander is in good form. 

Saha tries to work the ball on the leg-side and gets his bat in an awkward position ends up playing a nothing shot timing it straight to mid-wicket fielder Cummins giving the opening wicket for SRH. The change of ends has worked for Shabaz.

Unadakt has been brought into the attack and he bowled a decent over until he slipped in a poor delivery to Saha which he smacked for a six making it another big over. This is a solid start for the Titans in the run chase here in Ahmedabad SRH is in desperate need of a wicket. 

Saha is looking to attack the bowling while Gill has been more circumspective in the early part of the innings here. Bhuvneswar is done with his second over and yet again he has failed to pick a wicket with the new ball for the third game in a row. 

Shabaz has taken the ball from the other end and he delivered an expensive over. Saha smacked one for six and a single came off each ball of the remaining over making it an 11-run over. SRH need to pick early wickets here as they are not defending 277 today. 

Bhuvneshwar has taken the new ball for SRH and there has been not a lot of swing on offer for him. Gill did play his vintage square cut-through covers. It will be interesting how Bhuvi does today given the way the last two games he has been expensive. 

I think it’s a decent total on this kind of wicket, ball was gripping a bit, the spinners were also getting a bit of help. I was able to play with ease so I thought I should get more strike in the last over. That’s captain’s decision, I don’t know about it but we will probably start with Bhuvi only. It’s warm but the thing is it’s very dry as well, so it’s going to be tough. Initially, we got a good start in the powerplay so we were thinking about 180, but looking at the wicket, 160 is also a good score.

That is an excellent last over from Mohit Sharma he picked up two wickets in the over to restrict SRH to 161/7. It is not a mammoth total but given the way the surface has been playing it is something they can work with. However, GT will back themselves to chase these down in the home conditions. 

This has been an excellent partnership between Shabaz and Samad. When things were looking like they were going south these two got together and are building a handy partnership. GT too would be happy with their effort it is down to their batters to play well. 

Mohit has been brought back into the attack he is expected to bowl 18 and 20. SRH might get around 170 mark which is a decent score considering the wicket has played so far but the only thing Cummins would be hoping is the wicket not to skid on once the lights have been turned on. 

Rashid Khan is done for the day he started expensively but he pulled back things nicely. Most importantly he picked the crucial wicket of Klassen when he was looking in ominous touch. Meanwhile Samad since coming has been smoking the ball all around the ground. 

Two sixes in Noor Ahmad's final over were a reminder of why Heinrich Klaasen is so dangerous at this stage of a match. An incredible six-hitting record in recent times, Klaasen can take on both spin and pace but in these conditions, someone of his abilities against the slower bowlers is gold dust.

And so Rashid Khan decides to show why he is the gold standard at what he does well too. Klaasen picks up length so well but he is a bit late to read this one from Rashid that goes with the arm. The timber lights up, as does Gujarat captain Shubman Gill who saw his main man remove the opponents biggest threat at a crucial moment. Rashid, for his part, spread his arms in the air and soaked the moment in. King Khan, indeed.

Umesh has been brought back into the attack and he picks up Markram who checks his shot but unfortunately for him, he times it too well and Rashid Khan takes a brilliant catch near the boundary. Abdul Samad has walked into the middle and the batting is looking in a bit of pickle at the moment. 

Rashid Khan has been brought into the attack and he picked the crucial wicket of Klassen. The batter tried to hit Rashid over mid-wicket missed the ball and got bowled. That is a massive wicket for SRH. GT would be ecstatic that they have picked up the talisman of SRH batting.

Noor is done for the day and in that final over Klassen smashed a couple of sixes onto the leg-side. With those two Klassen takes his six-hitting tally to 17. Anything over 180 runs would be a good total for SRH to defend especially given they too have their fair share of bowlers who can execute slower varitions. 

This is good from Mohit Sharma he has realised the surface is slow and hence he is bowling the deliveries into the pitch and not asking the batters to use all their power to generate the shots. This is a very different challenge for SRH compared to what they have faced in the last two games.

Henrich Klassen has walked into the middle for SRH and has started with a boundary as Noor drifted one down the leg-side which the batter sent it for a boundary. Also, it will be interesting to see how Markram will bat from here on as the surface will continue to keep getting slower.

Mohit Sharma has been brought into the attack and he delivers a top-class over. He picks up the wicket of well-set Abhishek Sharma who tries to loft the ball on the off-side and gets beaten by the pace and times it straight to the cover fielder. 

Gujarat Titans have tightened the screws here for the last few overs. Noor has been bowling well. He is mixing his speeds nicely and also the surface is gripping a bit and seems like it is the right call from Pat Cummins first up to win the toss and bat first. 

Travis Head trying to slog sweep Noor Ahmed misses the ball and gets bowled. That's the wicket GT needed as Head was looking in good touch today. SRH needs to be a little careful here yes, they are coming off a massive total in the last game but they need to play today's game. 

Rashid Khan has been brought into the attack for the final over the Powerplay and Abhishek Sharma smashed him for a couple of sixes as the leg-spinner tossed up. This is another excellent powerplay for Sunrisers Hyderabad three games in a row now they have started their batting innings on overdrive. 

Mayank Agarwal pulled one of his pads and hit it straight to square leg. Three times in a row Agarwal has fallen to a pull shot. Omarzai is the bowler who gets the breakthrough in his third over. The gamble paid off for Shubman Gill to use him again. 

Good over from Umesh after a few big overs early in the piece. He hit the hard lengths making it difficult for Mayank to play his shots square off the wicket. He tried to get away the ball but Umesh was up to the task. Omarzai gets his third over. 

Mayank Agarwal needs to get a score for SRH. He had a poor last season and started this one on a quieter note as well. Today the conditions look excellent and he might look to play an innings of substance as Head takes the aggressive route from the other end. 

Umesh has taken the new ball from the other end he realised there was not much of a swing on offer hence he pulled the length back. Head is looking in good touch and the wicket has played so far. GT has made some interesting changes to their bowling as well. 

Omarzai has taken the new ball and Head has got a couple of boundaries away. Once again the left-hander has showed made his intentions clear from the first over. The ball has not swung as well it will be interesting to see what plans the Titans have against Head.

It's scorching heat out there. Travis Head walks into the middle and he has some happy memories on this ground from November 19. Gujarat Titans need to get a win here, especially after the loss they had in the previous game against Chennai Super Kings.

Gujarat Titans Subs: Sai Sudharsan, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Sharath BR, Manav Suthar, Abhinav Manohar

Sunrisers Hyderabad Subs: Umran Malik, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Nitish Reddy, Upendra Yadav

Sunrisers Hyderabad XI: Mayank Agarwal, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klaasen(w), Abdul Samad, Shahbaz Ahmed, Pat Cummins(c), Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Markande, Jaydev Unadkat

Gujarat Titans XI: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill(c), Azmatullah Omarzai, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Umesh Yadav, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma, Darshan Nalkande.

TOSS: Sunrisers Hyderabad win toss, opt to bat

Gill: We would have bowled first, looks like a good wicket. Definitely have a lot of good memories to look back here and would like to make good memories here. The support that I get from Ashu Paa and the management is great. We have got two changes - Noor Ahmad comes in for Johnson and Darshan Naklande comes in for Sai Kishore.

Cummins: We are gonna have a bat, looks like a good wicket so we want to put runs on the board. Don't now about that, but good wonderful memories back here and it's a packed stadium as well. We scored the highest score ever, we are very capable of that. We are playing the same team.

Shubman Gill and Pat Cummins are at the middle.

Emerging reports suggest that SRH all-rounder Wanindu Hasaranga has been ruled out of the IPL 2024 season due to a heel injury. 

He's blown hot and cold in recent times and a return from injury has been lukewarm thus far for Rashid Khan. Can the Afghan tweaker be significant in taking down the SRH batters today?

Ravi Shastri and Kevin Pietersen analyse the pitch: "It's a warm afternoon in Ahmedabad. Dimensions - if I am looking to cut/punch through the metres - 66 metres, dab towards third, that's 58 metres, pull/hook - 63 metres, scoop - 53 metres and down the ground - that's 73 metres. On the surface, this looks like a very good pitch. Looks like a batting beauty. It's an absolute road, it looks like a tremendous wicket. There's quite a nice breeze flowing across the ground, so that might help the players tremendously. It's going to reach 38 or 40 degrees here. In the day games played here, teams batting first have scored 200, once it was defended and on another occasion it wasn't. We've got Sunrisers Hyderabad up here. Sunrisers are gonna come here and they are gonna look at this wicket and they are going to think, 'maybe we can get 270 again.' There's an even covering of grass, it's a beautiful, beautiful wicket. In spite of this being a big stadium, plenty of runs here. You can chase down a big score. One thing the groundsman said, it's black soil, moisture doesn't stay too long, it's a good surface to bat."

• Most Sixes after 11 games in an edition: 214*
• Most boundaries after 11 games in an edition: 523*
• Most runs after 11 games in an edition: 4137*

Temperatures have touched 35 degrees as we are an hour out from the start of play. Can the batters find top gear in Ahmedabad today?

Sunrisers Hyderabad Predicted XI: Mayank Agarwal, Travis Head, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Heinrich Klassen, Shahbaz Ahmed, Abdul Samad, Pat Cummins, Mayank Markande, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natrajan

Impact players: Washington Sundar, Umran Malik and Jaydev Unadkat

Gujarat Titans Predicted XI: Shubman Gill (C), Wriddhiman Saha (WK), Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, Azmatullah Omarzai, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Saik Kishore, Umesh Yadav, Spencer Jhonson

Impact Players: Mohit Sharma, Shahrukh Khan and Abhinav Manohar

Shubman Gill's batting vs Bhuvneshwar Kumar: 9 innings; 50 runs; 3 dismissals; 16.66 Ave; 104.16 SR

Only one batter has crossed the 40-run mark in an innings for GT so far this IPL - Sai Sudharsan. While the left-hander has notched up 82 runs in two innings, the next best, Wriddhiman Saha has only managed 40. Can the Titans stoke a revival this evening?

Julian Wood, who has worked with T20 franchises such as Punjab Kings, agrees that the batters have just raised the bar after what he believes was T20 cricket’s ‘434-438’ moment.

“In that game, Jacques Kallis had quipped, ‘They’re 15 runs light.’ 10 overs into their chase, Mumbai could’ve said the same as well,” he says. “That could be the best game in this IPL already. The ceiling has gone further up. Yes, it’s not going to happen in every game.” As it didn’t the other night in Jaipur. “But the hitting levels have gone through the roof. This is what the young players have to be able to do now. Yes, they’ve got to learn their basic foundation but they need to learn this because this is where the game is headed.”

• Matches played: 11
• Won: 7
• Lost: 4
• Highest score: 233/2 (20) vs MI (2023)
• Lowest score: 125/6 (20) vs DC (2023)