The Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad has never been a happy hunting ground for Mumbai Indians (MI). Hardik Pandya’s team was under a lot of pressure before the match against Gujarat Titans (GT) as they had suffered four consecutive defeats.
When Mumbai Indians took the field to face the home team, Gujarat Titans, they were at the bottom of the IPL 2026 points table. Apart from this, Rohit Sharma was not in the playing combination due to injury.
MI beats GT in style in Ahmedabad
Despite all the odds, the five-time IPL winners emerged victorious against Gujarat Titans in a spectacular manner. Tilak Verma was adjudged player of the match for scoring a sensational century. Batting first, MI scored 199 runs in 20 overs on the basis of Verma’s unbeaten inning of 101 runs in 45 balls.
Chasing the target was not easy on the slow pitch of Ahmedabad. The troubles of GT batsmen gradually increased as they started losing important wickets from the very first ball of the second innings. Jasprit Bumrah got his first IPL 2026 wicket by dismissing Sai Sudarshan.
Mumbai Indians’ bowling line-up performed equally well
Impact player Ashwini Kumar was excellent; He took 4 wickets giving only 24 runs in 4 overs. The foreign spin pair of Mitchell Santner and Allah Ghazanfar claimed two each to join the wicket-taking feast. Against MI’s aggressive bowling attack, Gujarat Titans could only score 100 runs, with Mumbai Indians winning the match by a huge margin of 99 runs.
After the match, Mumbai Indians captain Hardik Pandya said, “Very important. It is always challenging to win away. But at the same time, Ahmedabad has been something that has been very difficult for us for Mumbai Indians. And yes, we have just played good cricket. And it feels very special because it was very much needed.”
Hardik Pandya praised centurion Tilak Verma fiercely.
“The kind of talent that Tilak has, he doesn’t really have to worry too much. So I just kept giving him the message that you just have to see the ball and hit the ball no matter what, because I really believe that the way the ball hits his bat is really something special.”
“Now it was time for him to come and perform. And yes, I think a few times I spoke so loudly that I felt dizzy,” Hardik Pandya told PTI on how Tilak Verma played such a brilliant inning under pressure.
Hardik Pandya said, “So yes, but it was very much needed for the group. It was very much needed for Tilak. It was very much needed for Mumbai Indians. And also as a captain, that kind of energy changes things.”
With the 99-run win, Hardik Pandya’s team moved up from 10 to seventh place in the points table.th Ten-team league places. After playing six matches, they now have 4 points from two wins and 4 losses with an improved net run rate of +0.067.
Read More: “Given a lot of runs”: Shubman Gill hits out at bowlers after crushing defeat against Mumbai Indians in IPL 2026