Shubman Gill put on a show with the bat in Gujarat Titans’ (GT) thumping 62-run victory over Mumbai Indians (MI) in Qualifier 2 of IPL 2023 at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Friday (May 26).
Opening the innings, Gill slammed 129 off 60 balls, propelling the defending champions to a mammoth 233/3 in 20 overs. His whirlwind knock was studded with 7 fours and 10 sixes.
In reply, MI’s innings folded for 171 in 18.2 overs. It was a listless batting display as only Suryakumar Yadav (61 off 38), Tilak Varma (43 off 14), and Cameron Green (30 off 20) managed to cross the double-digit mark.
Speaking at the post-match presentation ceremony, MI skipper Rohit Sharma said: "Yeah, look it was a great total. Shubman batted really well. They got 20-25 runs extra. We were quite positive with the batting line-up we had. But we couldn't bat long and stitch partnerships. Surya and Greeny went well in the middle, but yeah, we failed to go along."
"We wanted to give crack, give a positive note. We lost a few wickets in the powerplay. Surya and Greeny [Cameron Green] did well in the middle. We needed someone like Shubman out there who batted long from one end,” he added.
Invited to bat first, GT got off to a steady start and lost Wriddhiman Saha (18) just after the powerplay. Subsequently, Gill and Sai Sudharsan (43 off 31) added 138 runs for the second wicket to put the Titans in a commanding position.
Coming to the chase, it was up and down for the first half but in the second half, GT bowlers ran through the MI batting line-up. With this defeat, the Rohit Sharma-led side was also knocked out of the tournament.
"Playing this game and qualifying, it gives us a lot of confidence. Some of the younger players in our batting are our huge positive. We will look to get what we can do next season.
"Honestly, all the bowling teams have been challenged this season. We had a great bowling performance at times. We have to give credit to Shubman and his form. I hope he gets to continue his form. It is something it is something, Tim, we have given him some role and certain situations where he would perform. I mean Vishnu, he is a good player and can bat well there. We are not going to look too much at it, Gujarat bowlers came out on top and didn't give us freebies," Rohit concluded.
Gujarat Titans will now face Chennai Super Kings in the IPL 2023 final at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad on Sunday (May 28).
