Focused on my strengths: GT pacer Shami on his 4-wicket haul

AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Titans pacer Mohammed Shami’s four-wicket haul helped his team defeat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 34 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.

In the post-match presentation, Shami said that he was focusing to keep the bowling tight and bowl in good areas. He also praised his partner Mohit Sharma as he provided effective support.

“I was focusing on my strengths and trying to keep it tight. I always try to bowl in good areas. Just like the game against Delhi, the ball was moving off the deck. It’s very good to have a pacer like Mohit Sharma in the middle overs who uses the variations smartly,” the Indian fast-bowler added.

With this win, Gujarat Titans became the first to qualify for the playoffs. They have 18 points in the points table with nine wins and four losses. While SRH is placed second last in the table with eight points. They won four matches and lost eight.

Batting first, GT posted 188/9 with the help of Shubman Gill’s brilliant IPL century. Young batter Sai Sudharsan also played a good knock.

Bhuvneshwar Kumar performed extremely well, picking up five wickets while conceding 30 runs. Fazalhaq Farooqi, T Natarajan and Marco Jansen took one wicket each.

Chasing a total of 189, GT’s opening bowling pair breathed fire and dismissed Anmolpreet Singh and Abhishek Sharma. SRH got off to a poor start and were 45/4 after the end of the powerplay.

Heinrich Klaasen’s fighting knock of 64 off 44 balls did not help the team cross the line as wickets kept falling regularly at the other end.

The SRH batters were restricted to 154/9.

Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma together picked eight wickets – they dismissed four batters each. Yash Dayal also took one wicket.

Shubman Gill was awarded with “Player of the Match” for his blistering knock of 101 off 58 balls.