Gujarat Titans batter Abhinav Manohar revealed that the message from his captain Hardik Pandya was clear – take the attack against Mumbai Indians’ main bowler Piyush Chawla and put them under pressure. And that’s what he and David Miller did.
Chawla had conceded only 17 runs in the first three overs he bowled but he was taken for as many in his final over of the spell by Miller and Manohar to turn the momentum on the home team’s side. GT posted an above-par score of 207 runs after Manohar played a fine knock of 42 runs off just 21 balls whereas David Miller scored 46 runs from 22 balls.
Moreover, Rahul Tewatia added the finishing touches with a fine cameo of 5-ball 20 to help his team go past the 200-run mark. In response, MI could only manage 152-9 and GT won by a comprehensive margin of 55 runs at their home ground of Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Tuesday.
In fact, not only Piyush Chawla but other Mumbai Indians bowlers, barring Arjun Tendulkar were taken to the cleaners by GT batters.
“I went in when a few wickets fell, we had the timeout. Ashu pa came in and told me to carry the game for three overs, if it’s in your zone hit it, if not knock it around for singles, we can make up the runs in the end because we have the firepower to do that. That’s what me and Miller spoke about and it paid off. There was an effort to actually to get more runs in the middle overs. ” Manohar told broadcasters after Gujarat Titans’ innings.
“In our meeting, Hardik made it very clear that if we go after their main bowlers, which was Piyush Chawla, then we can get more runs on the board and then the rest of the bowlers will be under pressure. That’s what we tried to do and it worked,” he said.
Abhinav Manohar was also awarded Player of the Match for his knock and he said his hard work in the net sessions is helping him reap rewards.
He said in the post-match presentation, “Lucky to be in this franchise. We get to bat for as long as we want in the net sessions here. I practice a lot and have a lot of self belief because of it. That’s paying off. I’ve been gifted to time the bowl well and have been doing it since a young age, to do it at this level feels like a dream. This game I couldn’t start going from ball one because of the situation, but it was good to get my eye in and play my game.”
Gujarat Titans will next face Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Kolkata on Saturday.
