GT vs SRH: Shubman Gill’s 101 powers defending champions Gujarat Titans to IPL 2023 playoffs

Gujarat Titans, the defending champions, became the first team to qualify for the playoffs of the 2023 Indian Premier League.

When they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday. SRH are now out of the race for the playoffs.

Gujarat Titans who had also become the first team to make it to the playoffs in 2022, are assured of a top-two spot which gives them two chances to qualify for the final. With Delhi Capitals also out of contention, seven teams will now vie for the three remaining berths in the playoffs.

Shubman Gill was the standout batter for Gujarat Titans in an innings that fell apart after the first 14 overs. Gill became the first GT batter to score an IPL hundred and went past the 500-run tally to move to No.3 in the list for the Orange Cap. Last season, Gill had scored 483 runs from 16 matches as GT won the IPL in their debut appearance. This year, he has once again been their star batter and very nearly scored a hundred against Lucknow Super Giants last Sunday.

Against SRH, Gill was in dangerous form and got off to a rapid start and reached his half-century off just 22 balls. With Sai Sudharsan, Gill added 147 for the second wicket and while these two were on song for the Titans, you could only wonder how many they would finish with by the end of their 20 overs.

But GT managed only 41 for 8 off the last 6 overs as Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked 5 for 30 off 4 overs to become the third bowler after Jaydev Unadkat and James Faulkner to take two five-wicket hauls in the IPL. Bhuvneshwar had taken his first five-wicket haul in the IPL in 2017.

Mohammed Shami (4 for 21) and Mohit Sharma (4 for 28) starred with the ball for the Titans as the defending champions outplayed SRH who failed to reach the playoffs for the third successive season.

Sunrisers Hyderabad could never recover from their horror start to a chase of 189. Mohammed Shami dismissed Anmolpreet Singh in the first over before removing Rahul Tripathi in his second. Between those two stikes, Yash Dayal sent back Abhishek Sharma whose poor shot got an oitside edge and was caught by wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha.

Aiden Markram needed to play a huge role for SRH but Shami who bowled three overs on-the-trot, dismissed the opposition captain for 10 off 10 balls. At 29 for 4 in the 5th over, SRH were in deep trouble. Heinrich Klaasen was joined by debutant Sanvir Singh who got off the mark by hitting Mohammed Shami for a six. In the next over, Klassen hit Rashid Khan for a six and SRH reached 45 for 4 at the end of the Powerplay.

Mohit Sharma struck twice in his first over to remove Sanvir Singh and Abdul Samad and then dismissed Marco Jansen in his second over to leave SRH tottering at 59 for 7 off 9 overs. Heinrich Klaasen waged a lone battle with his second half-century of the season but Shami came back for his second spell and dismissed him for 64, an innings which had given a ray of hope to the Sunrisers. Bhuvneshwar Kumar batted sensibly and added 68 for the 8th wicket with Klaasen and showed the top-order what could have been had they not been overwhelmed by the target.

Sunrisers Hyderabad captain Aiden Markram must have been a happy man after he won the toss, decided to bowl and Bhuvneshwar Kumar struck with the third ball of the match to dismiss Wriddhiman Saha for a duck. The joy was short-lived thanks to astounding knocks by Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan who returned for the Titans after a month.

Shubman Gill is in the middle of a golden run, having scored runs across formats for India and leading a superb charge for Gujarat Titans in the 2023 IPL. He has also had a great time in Ahmedabad in 2023. A Test hundred against Australia in March showed his impressive technique and admirable patience while an unbeaten 94 off 51 balls against Lucknow Super Giants once again highlighted Gill’s special talent in the shortest format.

On Monday, Shubman Gill was unstoppable. He pierced gaps with ease and every shot spoke of an artist in work even in a format where batters thrive with innovation. It was text-book batting of the highest order and SRH had no answers to Gill’s fluent strokeplay.

Shubman Gill is only 23 but he bats with the maturity of a seasond pro who has been in the business of destroying bowlers for years. Gill showed off every skill he has developed: deft touches, classy punches down the ground and delightful looking flicks. He hit Fazalhaq Farooqi for four sucessive boundaries, punished poor some poor bowling from Aiden Markram with back-to-back boundaries and was smart enough to realise he could not let Mayank Markande settle into any kind of rhythm. Two boundaries off his first two balls in the innings meant SRH were under serious pressure now; and the first of those boundaries brought up a 22-ball fifty for Gill, the third fastest fifty by an Gujarat Titans batter.

Sai Sudharsan, at the other end, was just as impressive even. He replaced Vijay Shankar who was injured while batting at nets and joined the party with a boundary off Marco Jansen before turning his attention to Bhuvneshwar Kumar, T Natarajan and the others. The SRH bowlers were poor but that should not take away any credit from the spectacular partnership between Gill and Sudharsan – the pair added 147 for the second wicket in less than 14 overs to lay a solid platform for the likes of Hardik Pandya and David Miller. The dangerous partnership between Gill and Sudharsan was ended when Marco Jansen dismissed the latter for 47 off 36 balls.

Hardik Pandya, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia were dismissed cheaply in search of quick runs as Shubman Gill approached a maiden IPL hundred. He got to the milestone with a single off T Natarajan. This was the first hundred for Gujarat Titans in the IPL. Incidentally, Gill who had scored 96 in 2022 held the previous record for the highest individual score by a GT batter. He came close to a hundred against LSG but finished on 94 not out.

The regular wickets, however, broke GT’s momentum. At one stage, they looked good for a score in excess of 220. Gill fell to Bhuvneshwar Kumar for 101 off 58 balls. Bhuvneshwar dismissed Rashid Khan for a duck off the next ball while Noor Ahmad was run-out on the third ball. It was a disastrous final over for the Titans; Bhuvneshwar dismissed Mohammed Shami to complete his second five-wicket haul in the IPL. Bhuvneshwar Kumar finished with figures of 5 for 30 off his 4 overs including three wickets in the 20th over of the GT innings.