The 57th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 saw Mumbai Indians (MI) defeat Gujarat Titans (GT) byꦛ 27 runs in a high-scoring encounter at the Wankhede Stadium on Friday (May 12). Notably, the main highlight of the game that amazed everyone was MI batter Suryakumar Yadav‘s maiden IPL ton. Although Surya hit many dazzling shots during his knock, what surprised the likes of legendary Sachin Tendulkar and Ian Bishop was a stunning six fro𝕴m him towards the♒ end of MI innings.
Asked to bat first, Mumbai put up a mammoth total of 218/5 in th🍌eir allotted 20 overs, courtesy of an exceptional century from Surya. The right-handed batter scored an unbeaten 103 off just 49 balls, including 11 fours and 6 sixes. Among those 6 maximums from Surya, one came off a stunning shot that left everyone astonished.
On the second ball of the penultimate over, Mohammed Shami delivered an outside off delivery, which Surya sliced over short third man for six with a brilliant wrist work. Initially it appeared as the ball took an outside edge of Surya’s bat, but he actually deliberatly played the shot by using Shami’s pace. Watching the match from the MI’s dugout, Sachin made a few hand gestures in amazement and tried to understand the unbelievable shot from the 32-year-old. The reaction of Master Blaster soon went viral on the internet.
Here’s the video:
How do you hit a cover drive but get it🔯 over t🎀hird man for six?
We watched SKY do it here and still can't understand. What about you? 😵💫
— JioCinema (@JioCinema)
After the match, Sachin also took to his official Twitter handle and lavished praise on꧅ Surya for his majestic shot.
. lit up the evening sky today!
He played excellent shots throug𓆉h the innings but the one that stood out for me was the 6 over third man off .The way he opened the face of the bat to create that angle off the blade at th🌺e same time is very very tough to…
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt)
On the other hand, famous commentator and former cricketer Bishop also appreciated Surya’s shot and declared it ‘ridiculous’.
T🧸his for me will fore✱ver be know as “The Shot”. That’s just ridiculous from SKY.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi)
Coming back to the match, Rashid Khan was the pick of the bowlers for Gujarat as he took four wickets and conceded just 30 runs in his quota of four overs. However, in response, GT managed to score 191/8 in their 20 overs and eventually fell 27 runs short of the target. Among batters also, Rashid was the only lone warrior for his side, scoring a blistering 79 off just 32 balls. David Miller contributed with 41 runs as well, but it was not enough to get Gujarat over the line. Meanwhile, Akash Madhwal bagged🐽 three scalps for Mumbai, conceding 31 runs in his four overs.
Following MI’s win, Surya was adjudged ‘Player of the Match’ for his outstanding century.