Gill outshines Kohli to seal MI’s playoffs spot

Sensational Shubman Gill hit a magnificent 104*(52) to power Gujarat Titans to a thrilling win and knock Royal Challengers out of the tournament in Match 70 of TATA IPL 2023 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Rampant Kohli had roared again with a second consecutive ton to power Royal Challengers Bangalore to 197/5 but Gill storm hit bengalure and his 104* trumped Kohli’s 101* as GT knocked RCB out and helped Mumbai Indians qualify for the Play-offs.

Chasing 192, Gujarat Titans got off to a brisk start but lost Wriddhiman Saha inside the Powerplay. Gill and Saha hit three fours in the second over but Siraj struck in the third over to have Saha caught at cover-point where Parnell pulled off an excellent one-handed catch. A couple of streaky fours and a six from Impact Player Vijay Shankar, who replaced Yash Dayal, in the sixth over took GT to 51/1 at the end of the Powerplay.

Gill and Shankar kept chipping away with an odd boundary every over to take GT to 90/1 at the halfway mark. Gill brought up his fifty off 29 balls and then took on Bracewell, hammering two sixes to take 16 runs off the over. Shankar too joined the party as he hit a couple of fours and a massive 106m six off Vijaykumar Vyshak but the bowler bounced back to break the 123-run partnership by having Shankar (53 off 35) caught at deep mid-wicket off the next ball. GT lost two in quick succession as Dasun Shanaka mistimed his heave to deep mid-wicket in the next over from Harshal Patel.

David Miller arrived and got going with a four wide of short fine leg, off the first ball as the equation came down to 43 needed off 24. Vyshak then bowled a decent over, didn’t concede a boundary and gave away nine runs as the equation came down to 34 needed off 18.

Gill then hammered a massive six off the first ball of the next over from Siraj. But the RCB pacer hit back hard to have the dangerous Miller caught at deep point three balls later. Shubman though hit a crucial blow to finish the over as he hammered one over deep mid-wicket for a six to bring the equation down to 19 needed off 12.

Gill continued to hit clean as he smashed another six off Harshal in the penultimate over as GT accumulated 11 runs off the over. With 8 needed off the last over, Faf du Plessis handed over the ball to Parnell. The left-arm pacer started off with a WIDE but Gill reviewed it for waist high no ball and he did it successfully and it was declared a NO Ball by the third umpire. Parnell then sprayed one very wide outside off and was called a WIDE as RCB reviewed it unsuccessfully. With six needed off six, Gill finished it off in style with a cracking six over long on to bring up his century and win it for GT.

Earlier, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl. They made one change to the starting XI as Yash Dayal replaced Sai Sudharsan. They named Vijay Shankar, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Sai Koshore and Abhinav Manohar as their substitutes.

Royal Challengers Bangalore made two changes to their starting eleven as Dinesh Karthik and Vijaykumar Vyshak replaced Karn Sharma and Shahbaz Ahmed. They named Himanshu Sharma, Suyash Prabhudessai, Finn Allen, Sonu Yadav and Akash Deep as their substitutes.

Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis again got RCB off to a breezy start. Du Plessis opened up in the third over as he cracked four fours off Shami and Kohli joined the party in the next over as he smacked three fours in a row off Yash Dayal. The pair looked in great control as they took RCB to 62/0 at the end of the Powerplay.

Noor Ahmad finally broke the 67-run opening stand as he induced an outside edge of Du Plessis (28 off 19) which flicked keeper Wriddhiman Saha’s pads and popped up to Rahul Tewatia at first slip. Maxwell got going straight away with a six and a four off Noor but Rashid Khan cleaned him up with a googly in the next over to jolt RCB. Noor Ahmad then sent Mahipal Lomror back in the hut, having him stumped with a clever one down the leg side as he saw Lomror skipping down the wicket.

Michael Bracewell arrived and pressed the accelerator button straightaway with three fours in two overs. Kohli then reached his fifty off 35 balls. The pair cracked three fours off Mohit before Shami provided a crucial breakthrough by having Bracewell (26 off 16) caught and bowled. GT got two in quick succession as Karthik edged one to the keeper trying to pull it off Yash Dayal.

Kohli again breathed momentum with a couple of well-placed fours off Mohit in the 16th over. Rashid bowled a frugal 17th over, giving away just six but then Kohli upped the ante with a six and a four off Yash Dayal. He cracked a couple of fours off Shami in the next over to reach 99. He then brought up his second consecutive century with a single to long on off Mohit in the penultimate over and got a rousing reception from a packed Bengaluru crowd. Rawat finished it well with a six and a four as the batters took 15 off the last over to post 197/5.

Kohli remained unbeaten on 101 off 61 balls while Rawat remained not out on 23 off 15. RCB introduced Himanshu Sharma as their Impact Player in place of Dinesh Karthik at the end of the first innings.