Defending champions…Table toppers…Gujarat Titans… Well, it mattered little to a crazy phenomenon called Suryakumar Yadav, who treated the Wankhede with his first-ever IPL century on Friday (May 12) amidst the raucous chants of SURYA, SURYA, so loud that they could reach as far and high as his extravagant 360-degree shots. 

His innings of 103 off 49 balls helped Mumbai Indians stroll to an emphatic victory after posting 218/5 in 20 overs. To be fair, GT’s bowlers did not do much wrong but such was SKY dada’s DADAGIRI tonight that the storm that had waves of lightning, thunder, hailstorm, and other unidentified weather patterns just could not be contained. 

He hit 11 fours and six sixes, including a lofted drive for six off India’s premier fast bowler Mohammad Shami and a sweep shot for six over square leg off pacer Mohit Sharma. The moment of glory, in true Surya style, came off the final ball of the innings with him needing three runs for the century. And well, he got six. He smashed six.   

Ro-Hit goes hammer and tongs 

Before SKY, it was the Hitman (29 off 18) who actually set the tempo for the rest of the batters. He combined with pocket dynamo Ishan Kishan (31 off 20) to take our score to 61/0 in the powerplay but Rashid Khan’s wristies in the seventh over saw Rohit and Ishan walk back to the pavilion. 

Vishnu Vinod’s debut to remember

It’s become routine stuff for MI this season. New match, a new debutant and a new player making an impact in Blue and Gold! Vishnu Vinod announced himself as a force to be reckoned with pure six-hitting abilities.

He tonked Alzarri Joseph over square leg in the 12th over for his first six of the innings. His best of the night came against Shami which sailed over the cover boundary for another maximum. He perished after scoring 30 off 20 balls but his innings gave SKY some extra room to play freely in the middle overs.

Net run rate boost

Rashid Khan’s onslaught after GT were reeling at 103/8 denied us a huge win but we were the only side in the top four that had a negative net run-rate before the start of this encounter. We’re nearly into positives now (-0.117). 

Akash - A star in the making!

Akash Madhwal only made his debut this season and had huge shoes to fill. But his performances, especially today, make him seem ready for the tough job. His death bowling abilities were on display in the earlier matches and against GT, his variations and pace got rid of dangerous Killer Miller when he was on song, Wriddhiman Saha in his first over and sent Impact Player Shubman Gill’s off-stump on cartwheels! He ended up with figures of 3/31 in his four overs.

How’s the josh in the points table now?

14 points, and one giant step closer to the playoffs. We might still be third on the standings, but we’re pulling away from the crowd. This is the second-half. This is the business end. This is our territory! 

Brief Scores: Mumbai Indians - 219/5 (Suryakumar Yadav 103*, Rashid Khan 4/30) beat Gujarat Titans - 191/8 (Rashid Khan 79*, Akash Madhwal 3/31) by 27 runs