Rashid Khan put on a one-man show for Gujarat Titans in their 27-run loss to Mumbai Indians, conjuring a breathtaking assault in vain to considerably reduce the eventual margin of defeat, in their IPL 2023 fixture – watch the highlights of his 32-ball 79* here.
To bet on the IPL with our Match Centre partners bet365, head here.
It was an exhibition of unrestrained hitting from Rashid at No.8, caring little about the lack of support around. To put things in context, only three of the other nine Titans batters managed to reach double digits in a 219-run chase. The ninth-wicket stand remained undefeated on 88 off 40. Out of those, No.10 Alzarri Joseph contributed 7 off 12.
The Titans really never arrived for the chase, having been reduced to 55-5 in 7.1 overs. David Miller’s brief blitz (41 off 26) ended in the 12th over, bringing in Rashid. The Afghanistan spinner barely got any company, as Rahul Tewatia and Noor Ahmad departed soon after.
Their last remaining hope, Rashid did not go down without a fight. He blitzed ten sixes: only four times in IPL history has a non-century knock had 10 or more sixes and none over 11. In all, over 91 per cent of his runs came through boundaries. Miller was the only other GT batter to hit a six (2).
The solo assault was never going to be enough. When he came in, the required run rate was already 14.87. It only got worse. By the end of the 18th over, GT needed 55 runs. A bout of cramps further debilitated Rashid, extinguishing any hopes of a miracle.
But Rashid still kept going, hitting three sixes off his last six balls even as he hopped on one leg.
Those legs would need some serious masseur time, having carried the Titans’ bowling in the first innings as well. There was no support with the ball either, as Rashid took four of the five wickets to fall. Suryakumar Yadav’s century neutralised perfectly good figures of 4-0-30-4, the only GT bowler to go for less than nine and over.
