62nd Match, IPL: Gujarat Titans 188 for 9 (Gill 101, Sudharsan 47, Bhuvneshwar 5-30) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 154 for 9 (Klaasen 64, Shami 4-21, Mohit 4-28) by 34 runs

Gujarat Titans raged to a top-two finish for the second time with a 34-run win against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Ahmedabad on Monday. The defending champions are the first team to secure a playoff berth with 18 points from 13 games, eliminating the Sunrisers from contention.

After being put into bat, Sai Sudharsan’s 47 and Shubman Gill’s first IPL hundred propelled the Titans to 188 for 9. As a result, Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal, and Mohit Sharma were able to precipitate a Sunrisers collapse very early in the chase, and that was basically it. In spite of Heinrich Klaasen’s fighting fifty, it was too late to pursue too much.

https://twitter.com/aftab169/status/1658145957727600640

It was likewise a night when pacers made major decisions, representing 17 of the 18 wickets to fall on the red-soil pitch at Motera Arena. One of them, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, was the star of the show, scoring five wickets, but it wasn’t enough for Sunrisers, who now have nothing to play for but their wounded pride.

Shubman Gill hits maiden hundred and Sudharsan’s knock

Wriddhiman Saha was out for a duck off the third ball of the innings after grabbing an outswinger from Bhuvneshwar. From that point on, it was the Gill-Sudharsan show as the pair put on 149 runs for the subsequent wicket. Except them, none of the Titans’ players even contacted twofold figures.

Both Gill and Sudharsan scored fours in their innings, with the centurion scoring 13 and the almost half-centurion six. In the powerplay, they hit ten fours, four of which came in the same over bowled by left-arm quick Fazalhaq Farooqi in the fourth over. A force, a short-arm poke, a cover drive, a scoop, and so on, Gill played it.

The total reached 100 in the subsequent four overs as the Titans continued to accelerate from 65 for 1 after six innings. Surprisingly, Sudharsan scored the first six of the innings when he scooped left-arm seamer Marco Jansen over fine leg in the 11th over.

Having arrived at his initial fifty, with nine fours and no sixes, in 22 balls, Gill dialed back a little, requiring 34 more to raise his hundred.

The moment Shubman Gill reached his maiden IPL century.

He loves Narendra Modi Stadium! pic.twitter.com/Jis3WbCxkw

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 15, 2023

Sudharsan, who took Vijay Shankar’s place and played his first game in almost a month, looked solid in terms of his technique, putting away loose balls and finding gaps. However, at least two missed catches helped him.

Shubman Gill on 7th May – there are few games left this season, hopefully I'll get my ton.

Shubman Gill on 15th May – Maiden IPL century! pic.twitter.com/61oMwqCA9J

— Mufaddal Vohra (@mufaddal_vohra) May 15, 2023

Congratulations to Gujarat ka Gaurav Shubman Gill for his First IPL century. #GTvSRH pic.twitter.com/8Nk4K6Qswx

— MASS (@Freak4Salman) May 15, 2023

Titans strangle SRH upfront

Shami, Dayal, and Mohit combined to take all nine wickets in the chase, and Sunrisers couldn’t keep up with their pace. Rashid Khan, running across from deep third, caught Anmolpreet Singh when he top-edged a back-of-the-length ball in the first over. Dayal used an outside edge in the second to send Abhishek Sharma back.

Then came Shami, who was too good for Rahul Tripathi and Aiden Markram and was steaming hot. At that stage, he appeared to be practically unplayable – three wickets for five runs in 10 balls.

Mohit took three wickets in his first two overs, turning Sunrisers’ 29 for 4 into 59 for 7.