Ahmedabad: After Shubman Gill’s (101, 58b, 13×4, 1×6) first IPL century, it was the turn of pacers Mohammed Shami (4/21) and Mohit Sharma (4/28) to shine with the ball as Gujarat Titans (GT) trounced Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 34 runs here Monday. In the process the defending champions became the first team to seal their play-off berth in this edition of the IPL.
Shami and Sharma literally blew away the SRH batters. Except for Heinrich Klaasen (64, 44b, 4×4, 3×6), none of the other frontline SRH batters could tackle the fiery pace of Shami and the guile of Sharma. Chasing 189 for victory, SRH were at one point of time were reduced to 59 for seven before Klaasen and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (27) gave the innings some semblance of respectability with a stand of 68-run partnership for the eighth wicket. But then the rescue effort came a little too late and by that time the game had truly slipped away from Hyderabad.
Earlier Gill hit his maiden IPL century to single-handedly power defending champions Gujarat Titans to 188 for nine despite a late comeback by Bhuvneshwar Kumar (5/30). Gill added 147 runs for the second wicket with Sai Sudharsan (47, 36b, 6×4, 1×6) after Wriddhiman Saha (0) was dismissed early. Towards the end, SRH rode on Bhuvneshwar’s brilliant bowling to restrict GT under 200.
After a sedate start, GT broke the shackles in the third over with Gill and Sudharsan hitting Bhuvneshwar for three exquisite boundaries to pick up 15 runs. Having found his touch, the in-form Gill pulled, drove and flicked to collect four consecutive boundaries off Fazalhaq Farooqi. Both Sudharsan and Gill then dealt in boundaries to take GT to 65 for one in six overs. At the end of the 10th over, GT were 103 for one.
It was mayhem thereafter with Gill and Sudharsan going hammer and tongs to maintain a healthy run rate of over 10 till 14 overs. However, after Sudarshan’s departure, the GT innings stuttered a bit and they could not get past the 200-run mark which at one time looked easy.
Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 188/9 (Shubman Gill 101, Sai Sudharsan 47, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5/30) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 154/9 (Heinrich Klaasen 64; Mohammed Shami 4/21, Mohit Sharma 4/28) by 34 runs.