Good morning—another “fresh day” has dawned, and the sun is up again. Even if you’re coming off a night shift, cricket has a way of making time feel brand new. Hardik Pandya summed up that mood at the toss for MI, as the franchise tried to snap out of a four-match skid.
The script didn’t just flip—it flipped decisively. In Ahmedabad, MI finally got the better of Gujarat Titans for the first time at the venue, with the visitors collapsing after being asked to chase.
MI end the skid with a clinical chase
Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill chose to chase, betting on a match at a ground where the first-innings total tends to matter. MI put pressure on the chase by reaching 199 for 5, built around Tilak Varma’s dominant batting.
Tilak’s innings swung the game in a hurry. He was 19 off 22 at one stage, before the next 23 deliveries turned into a scoring burst worth 82 runs. When Tilak finished on an unbeaten 45-ball century, MI’s total looked even more imposing.
GT’s response collapsed in a hurry. Ashwani Kumar, returning to the setup, struck for four wickets, helping bowl Gujarat out for 100. It was also GT’s biggest defeat by runs in terms of the margin, as MI walked away with the kind of win that ends debates early.
Hardik’s toss words, Bumrah’s opener, and the powerplay payoff
There was also a turning point in the bowling attack. After five wicketless IPL games earlier in the season, Jasprit Bumrah finally struck—on the very first ball he faced. It took a change in approach, and it came immediately.
Hardik, visibly delighted during the post-match presentations, explained why Bumrah hadn’t been used as the opening-over option so far. In his words, it wasn’t a “Hardik Pandya problem”—it was simply that Bumrah is so impactful that he should be deployed wherever the team needs him most, rather than automatically at the start.
Pulse awards: the fun side of the match
Some moments deserved a little extra flair. Mahela Jayawardene received the “took-some-patience” award for not running Tilak out after he was on 19 off 22. The black-soil pitch collected the “deja-vu award” for behaving like it did on November 19 for the home side.
Debutant Krish Bhagat was handed the “duck-to-water” tag for getting his lines and lengths right from ball one on IPL debut. And GT’s middle order took home the “incognito award”—they were present, but never really in the contest.
Talking point: MI’s powerplay turnaround
MI entered the contest as the IPL’s lowest wicket-taking Powerplay bowling side in IPL 2026. In their first five matches, their seamers had taken just three wickets, at an average of 87 with an economy rate of 10.87.
Giving Bumrah the new ball—only the seventh time he’d been used in that role across 151 IPL matches—delivered instant reward. GT lost a wicket on the opening ball for the first time in 66 games, and the early strike changed the rhythm of the chase.
With matchups favouring MI, the quicks then removed Jos Buttler and Shubman Gill as well. It marked the first occasion in this season’s context where GT’s top three were dismissed inside the Powerplay, and after that, the contest was essentially decided early.
Who’s saying what
Hardik praised the win as “very special” and “much needed.” He also admitted to an unusual level of excitement during Tilak’s hitting, saying that he screamed so loudly at some of the shots that he “kind of got dizzy.”
Hardik further added that it was “about time Tilak came and delivered.” Tilak, meanwhile, said that “the first hundred will always be special” and that he wants to spend more time at the crease. He also highlighted his range, explaining that he has “all the fancy shots and when the team needs, I can use them.”
Shubman Gill’s take was that “160-160” should have been a par number on that wicket, but GT “gave away too many runs in the middle overs.” He framed the loss as a “small hiccup,” hoping to bounce back quickly.
James Franklin, the SRH assistant coach, weighed in on another storyline: he felt Nitish Reddy’s pace “is definitely up.” Franklin also praised how the allrounder goes about his work, noting that he has been “planning his overs and sequencing his balls.”
Stat Snack and the latest gossip
Tilak Varma also earned a Stat Snack. He became the first MI batter—and the overall ninth player—to outscore the opposition in IPL. The most recent batter to do it before him was KL Rahul (132*) for PBKS against RCB (109) in Dubai in 2020.
There was more chatter away from the boundary too. Could Ahmedabad’s black-soil pitch decision be getting too clever? A faint sense of deja vu lingered as the surface “didn’t quite behave to script,” and rumours suggest unrest in the background.
The talk is that the stadium’s black-soil strip could be phased out, with an all-red square potentially being prepared. One fan of Mark Zuckersburg’s closet full of grey tees summed up the appeal by saying, “I love the idea, one less choice to make.”
At a glance
- MI ended a four-match losing streak with a win over GT in Ahmedabad.
- MI posted 199/5; Tilak Varma made an unbeaten 45-ball century.
- GT were bowled out for 100; Ashwani Kumar took four wickets.
- Jasprit Bumrah took a wicket on the first ball of the innings after five wicketless IPL games.
- MI had been IPL 2026’s lowest wicket-taking Powerplay bowling side before this match.
- Quick recognition: “took-some-patience” (Mahela Jayawardene), “deja-vu” (black-soil pitch), “duck-to-water” (Krish Bhagat), “incognito” (GT middle order).
Tonight’s watchlist and a reckless prediction
For the next round, SRH will host DC in Hyderabad. The spotlight remains on Nitish Reddy’s pace, which has been one of the standout talking points across the season so far.
And for a bit of fun, the reckless call for tonight’s match is simple: Travis Head to deposit one into the crowd—and another one right on the roof.
