Mumbai Indians’ quartet of Australians have had a chastening evening with the Indian Premier League giants suffering a heavy defeat to defending champions Gujarat Titans.
Jason Behrendorff bowled well enough in the face of a Titans onslaught that piled up 6-207 in Ahmedabad, but he, Riley Meredith and Cameron Green went for a cumulative 70 off the last four overs as South African big-hitter David Miller cut loose.
Behrendorff dropped Miller off a difficult boundary chance off Meredith that went for six, but the Perth Scorchers quick eventually pick up the bruiser for a 22-ball 46 off the second last ball of the innings.
That gave Behrendorff 1-37 off four overs. Meredith’s quartet went for 49 for the one wicket of Abhinav Manohar, while Green’s two overs disappeared for 39, including 22 off the 18th over as he conceded a trio of sixes.
Green then produced some big hits with the bat, making 33 off 26 balls with three sixes of his own. But with himself and Tim David (0) perishing within three balls mid-innings, Mumbai were restricted to 9-152, a 55-run loss.
Put into bat on Tuesday Titans opener Shubman Gill made 56 off 34 balls while Manohar thrashed 42 off 21 late on. Mumbai’s most economical bowler was Sachin Tendulkar’s son Arjun who took 1-9 off two overs in the Powerplay but was not asked to bowl again.
Mohammed Shami (0-18 off four) and Hardik Pandya (1-10 off two, including removing Rohit Sharma caught-and-bowled for 2) then bowled beautifully to put Mumbai behind the rate and provide a platform for Afghan spin twins Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmad to tear the middle-order apart.
The Afghan duo shared five wickets between them with only Green and Nehal Wadera (40 off 21) putting up any resistance.
One Australian was on the victorious side. Matthew Wade is in the Titans squad. But while he was in their winning XI last year he has so far been unable to force his way into a Titans side that has won five of their seven matches to share the lead at the IPL’s mid-point with Chennai Super Kings.
Aussies in IPL 2023
Delhi Capitals: Mitch Marsh ($1.2m), David Warner ($1.16m)
Gujarat Titans: Matthew Wade ($446,000)
Lucknow Super Giants: Marcus Stoinis ($1.7m), Daniel Sams ($135,000)
Mumbai Indians: Tim David ($1.53m), Cameron Green ($3.15m), Jason Behrendorff ($135,000), Riley Meredith ($272,000)
Punjab Kings: Nathan Ellis ($135,000), Matt Short ($36,000)
Rajasthan Royals: Adam Zampa ($270,000)
Royal Challengers Bangalore: Josh Hazlewood ($1.4m), Glenn Maxwell ($2m)
Figures represent auction price in Australian dollars at time of sale
