In the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023, Gujarat Titans (GT) beat Mumbai Indians (MI) by 62 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad. With this win, the Titans will be meeting Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Sunday, May 28th at the same venue.
MI captain Rohit Sharma won the toss and invited GT to bat first, but today, it was all about Shubman Gill’s masterclass. Gill’s explosive century had created havoc all around in Ahmedabad, as he scored the third century of his IPL career, which helped the Ahmedabad-based side to put up a humungous total of 233/3 in the 20 overs. This was the highest total ever made in the history of the playoffs stage.
While chasing, MI lost two wickets in the powerplay in the form of Nehal Wadhera (4), who came as a substitute, in place of injured Ishan Kishan, and Rohit (8) who were dismissed by Mohammed Shami, but Mumbai did not let themselves stuck, as the young southpaw batter Tilak Varma (43) came up with a furious intent, as he started to smack boundaries. He went berserk in Shami’s over, as he scored 24 runs in his over. Rashid Khan dismissed dangerous-looking Tilak in the sixth over. The in-form Cameron Green (30) and Suryakumar Yadav (61) came to the middle and did not let the scoring rate go down, both of them quickly knit 52 runs partnership, But the Irish left-arm pacer, Joshua Little broke the partnership, as he got the crucial wicket of Green. SKY, on the other end, was looking very threatening, but Mohit Sharma grabbed his wicket, which changed the whole course of the match, and then the lower-middle order got stumbled in this chase. In the end, the Mumbai-based team got all out and scored 171 runs in 18.2 overs.
With the ball for the Ahmedabad-based unit, Mohit grabbed five wickets, whereas Shami and Rashid claimed two wickets each, and Little got one wicket.
In the first innings, the defending champions had a steady start, as once again Wriddhiman Saha (18) and Gill (129) stitched an opening partnership of 54 runs before Saha got departed in the seventh over, as he was dismissed by Piyush Chawla, But the gigantic Narendra Modi Stadium witnessed “The Prince’s” imperious knock which won all the hearts. The 23-year-old young sensation did not shy away to perform on a very important stage, where he scored phenomenal 129 runs which had seven sensational fours and 10 massive sixes. He also became the highest run-scorer of this season. Along with him, Sai Sudharsan (43) also contributed with his bat, and in the end, captain Hardik Pandya’s (28)* brisk cameo helped Gujarat to score a huge total.
With the ball for MI, only Akash Madhwal and Chawla got one wicket each but were expensive as well.
For his impeccable ton, Shubman Gill was adjudged Player of the Match.
Scorecard:
Gujarat Titans: 233/3, Overs 20, Shubman Gill 129, Piyush Chawla 1/45
Mumbai Indians: 171/10, Overs 18.2, Suryakumar Yadav 61, Mohit Sharma 5/10