AHMEDABAD: The defending champions of the Indian Premier League title, Gujarat Titans, became the first team to qualify for the IPL 2023 playoffs after clinching a 34-run victory against Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Monday.
GT will finish at the top spot and they will play the first qualifier in Chennai at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on May 23. They will have two opportunities to make their place in the final of the IPL 2023 which will be played at their home stadium in Ahmedabad on May 28.
https://twitter.com/gujarat_titans/status/1658169110524485643?s=20
Shubman Gill’s century and Mohamad Shami’s impressive performance with the ball clinched a 34-run victory for Gujarat Titans against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 match at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Monday.
GT’s opening bowling pair breathed fire in the opening pair as the duo of Mohamad Shami and Yash Dayal dismissed Anmolpreet Singh (5) and Abhishek Sharma (4) respectively.
Shami came back in the third over to pick another crucial wicket of SRH skipper Aiden Markram for a score of 10(10). SRH batters Sanvir Singh and Heinrich Klaasen survived for the next two overs. But Shami was in no mood to let them settle. He came back in the 7th over to dismiss Sing for 7(6) which tightened GT’s grip over victory. SRH ended the powerplay with a score of 45/4.
Klaasen kept the scoreboard ticking by picking up boundaries at regular intervals. However, the rest of the players failed to support him at the other end.
Indian youngster Abdul Samad had the perfect opportunity in front of him to make his mark in the IPL 2023. He is known for his ability to strike the ball cleanly for sixes.
But this time, Mohit Sharma was brought into the attack to ensure GT maintained their full control over the game. With his experience, he picked up the wickets of Samad and Marco Jansen for scores of 4(3) and 3(6) respectively. Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the last recognized batter for SRH. He held on to one end as Klaasen tried to find the boundaries.
SRH was still in the chase till Klaasen was standing on the crease for the visitors. He scored a half-century in the 14th over under difficult circumstances. However, the margin between the number of balls and runs kept on increasing.
The South African batter tried to clear the boundary but his shot end up straight into the hands of David Miller. Shami claimed his fourth wicket of the match. Klaasen’s heroic knock came to an end with a score of 64(44).
Bhuvneshwar Kumar failed to survive till the end as he b became the third victim of Mohit Sharma. SRH ended their knock with a score of 154/9.
Earlier in the innings, SRH drew the first blood as Bhuvneshwar Kumar picked up the wicket of man-in-form Wriddhiman Saha for a three-ball duck in the first over. From that point, Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill took apart the entire SRH bowling line-up.
They played different kinds of shots all over the field to put GT in the driver’s seat. GT ended the powerplay on a strong note as they scored 65/1.
The second-wicket partnership continued till the 15th over until Marco Jansen came back into the attack. Sai tried to play a shot and ended up losing his shape in the process, due to this his shot ended up straight into the hands of T Natarajan.
After this wicket, GT’s batting order started to fall like pieces of dominoes one after another. Hardik Pandya came in the ideal situation to take his time and finish the game for GT. But Bhuvneshwar Kumar’s experience was enough to overpower Pandya. He played a shot and found the perfect contact, but his shot lacked placement and the ball ended up in Rahul Tripathi’s hands.
Hardik departed for a score of 8(6). David Miller and Rahul Tewatia came and were back to the dugout within a blink of an eye for scores of 7(4) and 3(3) respectively.
Shubman Gill kept the scoreboard ticking on the other end. But his sublime knock finally came to an end. His half-hearted drive sent the ball in the air and Abdul Samad took a diving catch to bring the beautiful knock came to an end. Gill departed with a score of 101(58).
The final over was a reflection of GT’s collapse in the past five overs as GT lost four wickets in the final over and scored just two runs. Bhuvneshwar Kumar completed his five-wicket haul with three wickets in the final over. GT ended the first innings with a score of 188/9.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad: 154/9 (Heinrich Klaasen 64(44), Bhuvneshwar Kumar 27(26) and Mohamad Shami 4/20) vs Gujarat Titans and Gujarat Titans 188/9 (Shubman Gill 101(58), Sai Sudharsan 47(36) and Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5/30) vs Sunrises Hyderabad. (ANI)