Rana, Rohit lead Mumbai Indians to 6 wicket win over Gujarat Lions

Photo: BCCI

New Delhi: Mumbai Indians’ new find Nitish Rana continued his superb run in the IPL as the hosts got past Gujarat Lions by 6 wickets in an IPL match in Mumbai.

Rana top scored with 53. But it was captain Rohit Sharma’s return to form that was the highlight of the day for Mumbai Indians, who now have won 4 out of their 5 matches to climb to the top of the table with 8 points.

Rohit hit the winning runs and remained unbeaten on 40 off 29 balls.

Chasing a target of 177, Mumbai were jolted early by Praveen Kumar. He removed Parthiv Patel for a duck. But young Nitsh Rana displayed commendable maturity to mix caution with aggression to build a solid platform for Mumbai.

The second wicket stand of 85 took Mumbai to a strong position before Buttler was dismissed for 26. 

Jason Roy’s drop catch proved to be costly as Rana hit three 2 sixes and 4 fours on his way to his third half-century of IPL in just 5 matches. When he was finally dismissed for 53, Rohit Sharma joined hands with Pollard to further punish the Gujarat Lions bowlers.

Some baffling captaincy from Suresh Raina, who introduced Dwayne Smith in the crucial middle overs handed the momentum to Mumbai Indians and the hosts never looked back.

Rohit, whose highest score in the IPL was in single digits played a grinding knock and ensured there were no hiccups even after he lost his partner Pollard in the closing stages of the game.

Gujarat’s never ending concerns with the ball continued as previous match hat trick man Andrew Tye did not even come close to repeat his heroics. 

Earlier, Gujarat posted a challenging target of 177 mainly because of McCullum 64 run innings and balzing 48 by DInesh Karthik.