Aussies on the outer lead Mumbai to tight IPL victory

Two Australians on the outer of the national side, Tim David and Daniel Sams, have inspired the Indian Premier League's most successful side to a thrilling victory over newbies Gujarat Titans.

The struggling Mumbai Indians were thankful to superb hitting from David and then nerveless death bowling from Sams as they edged to a thrilling five-run victory over Gujarat Titans in Mumbai.

Their match-winning performances on Friday demonstrated the quality of the two Aussie players who have had some tough times with the IPL's bottom club in this year's tournament and were overlooked for Australia's three T20 series in Sri Lanka.

A third Aussie on the periphery of national squads, speedster Riley Meredith, was also instrumental in conceding just 32 from his four overs on a good batting surface at Brabourne Stadium.

David, who's so far earned his international stripes for his birthplace of Singapore rather than the country where he was raised, surprisingly got the biggest deal of any Australian when he was snapped up for $1.53m by Mumbai in the IPL auction.

Image Id: 1058AD03F132448DA3BA84D27DA196D8 Image Caption: David has been overlooked for parts of the IPL despite being the most expensive Aussie purchase // IPL/BCCI

But after a couple of early failures, he got dropped - and was left itching to prove what he could really do.

On Friday, Mumbai remembered what the fuss was about. Coming in at No.6 for a late-overs assault, David clouted a brilliant unbeaten 44 off just 21 balls, featuring four sixes and two other boundaries, to earn the player of the match award.

It was the kind of innings Kieron Pollard, the legendary Mumbai finisher who has played in all five of their IPL titles, usually plays but the West Indian had earlier limped to just 4 off 14 balls.

David's hand was enough to boost Mumbai's total to a respectable 6-177 but that still looked as if it wasn't going to be enough as Gujarat needed just nine off the final over to win.

Enter Sams for the death over. The left-arm quick, facing the ever-dangerous South African hitter David Miller, delivered brilliantly, bowling three dot balls and giving away just three runs to seal the deal.

Image Id: 106E12CA69054A6CAD68358BD49933E1 Image Caption: Sams celebrates after his clutch final over // BCCI/IPL

"Nine off six made me feel I have nothing to lose, and the odds are in the batters' favour," said Sams. 

"I got a few wide balls in the tramline and managed to execute it well. It's awesome that we got over the line."

The magnitude of his effort could be gleaned from Gujarat skipper Hardik Pandya's comment that "on any day, we'd take nine off the last over."

It was particularly sweet for Sams as exactly a month earlier,he'd been smashed for 35 runs in an over in the loss to Kolkata, mainly through the extraordinary hitting of Australian captain Pat Cummins.

The allrounder, however, has had his moments for Mumbai this season too, as with his 4-30 in a losing cause against the Chennai Super Kings last month.  

David was rewarded for his coolness in rejecting singles off the first two balls he'd faced in Mohammed Shami's final over, as he cracked two more sixes which eventually proved to be decisive.

"Given the context, my innings feels great," said David, who naturally hadn't enjoyed his time out of the side.

"Sitting out and watching your teammates lose is not ideal. You always want to practice and be ready.

"It felt like a great pitch so when you get the conditions in your favour, you've got to try to maximise it.

"I felt like I'd missed out on a couple to be honest, and thought we were a bit short (of a good score), so I was frustrated when we came off. But it shows how good a job the bowlers did, especially after they were 0-100."

The 2022 Indian Premier League will be broadcast live in Australia on Fox Sports and live streamed on Kayo

Australians in IPL 2022

Delhi Capitals: Mitchell Marsh, David Warner

Gujarat Titans: Matthew Wade

Kolkata Knight Riders: Pat Cummins, Aaron Finch

Lucknow Super Giants: Marcus Stoinis, Andrew Tye

Mumbai Indians: Tim David, Daniel Sams, Riley Meredith

Punjab Kings: Nathan Ellis

Rajasthan Royals: Nathan Coulter-Nile

Royal Challengers Bangalore: Glenn Maxwell, Josh Hazlewood, Jason Behrendorff

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Sean Abbott