GILL’S TON KNOCKS RCB OUT; MI QUALIFY
Mumbai Indians beat Sunrisers Hyderabad but had to wait for Gujarat Titans’ win over Royal Challengers Bangalore to advance
On a day when a total of three centuries were scored in the concluding games of IPL 2023, it was Gujarat Titans’ Shubman Gill’s ton that knocked out Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) from the playoffs and helped Mumbai Indians (MI) seal the final spot.
Gill emulated Royal Challengers Bangalore’s Virat Kohli to hit his second successive hundred in the IPL 2023 as Gujarat Titans (GT) recorded a six-wicket victory to break the tens of thousands of hearts at Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Earlier, Kohli hit his second successive century with an unbeaten 101 in 61 balls to lead RCB to 197/5. Chasing the target, Gill also smashed his second consecutive century with an unbeaten 104 off 52 balls in his team’s victory. Vijay Shankar contributed with 53.
Gill, who became the first GT player to register a hundred in the history of IPL against Sunrisers Hyderabad in the previous match, raced to his half-century in just 29 balls. He used another 23 balls to bring up his second consecutive hundred.
Titans’ victory allowed Mumbai Indians to make it to the playoffs, who had earlier in the day defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by eight wickets at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Cameron Green had smashed his maiden IPL century (100) off 47 balls in Mumbai Indians win.
Along with skipper Rohit Sharma, who hit 56 off 37 balls, Mumbai chased down Sunrisers score of 200/5 as they reached 201/2 in 18 overs. The result eliminated Rajasthan Royals, who needed MI and RCB to lose to stand a chance of progressing.
Sunrisers, who finished bottom of the IPL, mainly had openers Mayank Agarwal (83) and Vivrant Sharma (69) to thank for reaching 200 as the pair put on 140 in 13.5 overs. Akash Madhwal was the pick of the bowlers as he claimed 4/37.
MI, needing a win to have a chance of making it into the top four playoff spots, lost Ishan Kishan early before Rohit and Green put their side in control.
The duo stitched a 128-run stand before it was broken by Mayank Dagar who dismissed Rohit.
Green reached his 50 off just 20 balls and, in making his first IPL century, hit eight sixes and eight fours.
IPL playoffs from Tuesday
Gujarat Titans, as the group-stage winners, will face Chennai Super Kings in Qualifier 1 on Tuesday.
The winner of that game will go into the final on Sunday.
Wednesday will see Lucknow Super Giants take on the fourthplaced Mumbai Indians - in the Eliminator, with the loser going out.
The winner of the Eliminator will face the loser of Qualifier 1 on Friday in Qualifier 2 for the second place in the final.
Brief scores: Sunrisers Hyderabad 200/5 (Mayank Agarwal 83, Vivrant Sharma 69; Akash Madhwal 4-37) lost to Mumbai Indians 201/2 in 18 overs (Cameron Green 100 n.o., Rohit Sharma 56; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-26). Royal Challengers Bangalore: 197/5 (Virat Kohli 101 n.o., Faf du Plessis 28; Noor Ahmed 2/39) lost to Gujarat Titans 198/4 in 19.1 overs (Shubman Gill 104 n.o, Vijay Shankar 53; Mohammed Siraj 2/32).