Mumbai: Mumbai Indians batsmen struggled for the second consecutive time at the Wankhede Stadium as the hosts were restricted to 143/8 by an impressive Gujarat Lions bowling unit here on Saturday.
Gujarat were comfortably placed at 80 for 2 after 11 overs when this edition went to bed. Local boy Dhawal Kulkarni (2/19) who replaced Ravindra Jadeja in the playing XI jolted the hosts early by removing his Mumbai teammate Rohit Sharma (7) and Hardik Pandya (2) to reduce Mumbai Indians to 19/2 in 3.3 overs. Pravin Tambe (2/12 in two overs) struck twice in the middle to ensure Mumbai Indians never got momentum until the last overs from James Faulkner (conceding 17 runs in the 19th over) and Dwayne Bravo, who went for 14 runs in the last over.
With wickets falling around, opening batsman Parthiv Patel 34 (29b, 2x4, 2x6) tried to hold the innings together but couldn’t dominate the bowling. Ambati Rayudu 20 (19b, 1x6) tried to steady the innings in the middle but accelerate at the end. Tim Southee 25 (11b, 1x4, 2x6) and Krunal Pandya 20 not out (11b, 3x4) struck a few lusty blows in the last two overs to give their side a fighting total.
Praveen Kumar swung the ball prodigiously and Kulkarni, who knew the conditions well, troubled the batsmen with accurate bowling inside powerplays. Left-arm spinner Shadab Jakati and James Faulkner kept the pressure on as Parthiv Patel and Jos Butler found the going tough reaching 41/2 in eight overs.
Patel broke free with a six of Jakati but wickets kept falling at the other end. Butler’s (16) struggle at the crease was ended with a smart stumping.
