Shubman Gill’s scintillating maiden century followed by a four-wicket haul each by Mohammad Shami and Mohit Sharma powered Gujarat Titans to the Playoffs with a 34-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in an IPL 2023 match at the Narendra Modi Stadium, here on Monday.
While the Titans become the first team to qualify for the Playoffs this season and are assured a top-two finish as well with 18 points in their kitty with one match to go, Sunrisers are officially eliminated from the tournament.
Gill (101 off 58) and B. Sai Sudharsan (47 off 36) set the foundation for a big total with their 147-run stand before GT lost momentum with the bat in the final stages of the first innings and suffered a sudden collapse with just 41 runs coming for the loss of seven wickets in the death overs to post 188/9.
Shami (4-21) then ripped through the SRH top-order and Mohit (4-24) scythed through the middle-order as the hosts overcame a fighting effort from Heinrich Klaasen (64 off 44) to restrict SRH to 154/9 and become the first team to qualify for the Play-offs.
Chasing 189, SRH were jolted early Mohammad Shami’s triple strike in the Power-play reduced Sunrisers to 29/4. He first got the opener Anmolpreet Singh in the first over. The next over Yash Dayal removed Abhishek Sharma for 4.
Shami struck again in the third over to dismiss Rahul Tripathi and got the big wicket of skipper Aiden Markram in the fifth over and Sanvir Singh smashed him for a maximum on the last ball of the over.
Heinrich Klassen make a bit of room and lofted it all the way over the extra cover fence for a six and SRH were 45/4 at the end of the Power-play.
The next over Mohit Sharma’s double strike put further miseries on SRH in the run-chase as the visitors were reduced to 50/6. He first got rid of Sanvir Singh.
Then, Abdul Samad stayed back and looked to muscle away a slower ball but got no elevation and the ball crunched straight to short mid-wicket where Shivam Mavi took a sharp catch.
An over later, Mohit claimed his third in the form of Marco Jansen, who looked to loft it down the ground but the ball took the thick inside half and ended up chipping an easy catch for the GT skipper and Sunrisers lost their seventh wicket on the score of 59.
In between, the in-form Klaasen kept battling hard as he brought up his half-century off 35 balls and stitched a 68-run partnership for the eighth wicket.
When 66 was needed in 24 balls, Shami broke the crucial 68-run partnership by sending Klassen back in the 17th over, making it tougher for the Sunrisers to go over the line.
Mayank Markande hammered Mohit for a six and a boundary in the penultimate over. The pacer was quick to regroup and got rid of Bhuvneshwar.
With 42 left for the final over, Rahul Tewatia gave away just seven runs as GT restrict SRH to 154/9 in 20 overs to seal an important 34-run win.
Earlier, batting first, GT lost opener Wriddhiman Saha for a duck. Then, Gill and Sudharsan pressed the accelerator to take the Power-Play score to 65/1.
The duo continued punishing SRH bowlers with their boundary hits and established the 147-run partnership, which Marco Jansen broke in the 15 over.
Afterwards, the hosts suffered a collapse. Captain Hardik Pandya came and pulled it hard towards the deep square-leg region, to begin with a four, but Bhuvneshwar didn’t let him stay for long and removed him the next over.
Natarajan, then, removed David Miller. Rahul Tewatia too didn’t last long as he miscued his loft to mid-off where Jansen pouched a brilliant catch off Farooqi.
Meanwhile, Gill brought up his maiden IPL century with a single in the 19th over. But, Bhuvneshwar sent him back soon after his hundred in the final over. On the next delivery, he dismissed Rashid Khan.
He didn’t get the hat-trick but SRH managed to get a team hat-trick as Bhuvneshwar produced a direct hit to run out Noor Ahmad as they set off for a risky bye. Bhuvneshwar completed his five-for as he had Shami caught at long-on off a slower one.
It was a fantastic comeback from SRH as they conceded just 34 runs and picked up seven wickets in the last five overs as the away team restricted GT to 188/9.
Brief scores:
Gujarat Titans 188/9 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 101, Sai Sudharsan 47; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5-30) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad (Heinrich Klaasen 64, Mohammed Shami 4-20, Mohit Sharma 4-28) by 34 runs.
