Gujarat Titans made certain of a top-two spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 as they defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad by 34 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday. Here are our takeaways from the match.
Graceful Gill makes Sunrisers pay
The first innings belonged to Shubman Gill, as he cracked his maiden IPL century with aplomb. Laced with some breathtaking strokes which showcased his calibre and confidence, Gill hammered 13 fours and a solitary six at a strike-rate of 174, to take Gujarat to 188-9. In reality, his century saved Gujarat some embarrassment, as he and Sai Sudarshan (47) were the only batters to reach double digit figures. The rest of the line-up managed 27 runs, with 13 coming from extras.
Notably, this was also the first time Gill had surpassed the 500-run mark in an IPL season. He also became first Indian player to score hundreds in Tests, ODIs, T20Is and the IPL in a calendar year.
Bhuvneshwar rolls back the years
Bhuvneshwar Kumar was the pick of the bowlers for Hyderabad, scalping five wickets. This was the first time he had bagged four or more in an innings in the IPL since 2017.
Bhuvneshwar has endured a dip in form over the last few seasons, but this time round, he has upped the ante with 15 wickets to his name. This is the first time since his Purple-Cap seasons (2016, 2017) that he has taken 15 wickets. Between 2014 and 2017, he bagged 87 wickets in four seasons. The subsequent five IPL campaigns saw him take just 43. However, IPL 2023 has seen him enjoy a resurgence.
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Shami cranks it up in Powerplay
Mohammed Shami has been a class apart with the new ball this season for Gujarat. Against SRH, Shami once again moved the ball off the seam at pace. It was beautiful to watch, and before Hyderabad could even blink, Shami had removed three top-order batters – Anmolpreet Singh, Aiden Markram and Rahul Tripathi – to severely dent the chase.
In the first three overs that Shami bowled, he conceded a mere 16 runs at a spending economy rate of 5.3. Shami has now drawn level with Rashid Khan, his teammate, on 23 wickets. He has custody of the Purple cap because of his better average and economy rate.
He also has 15 wickets in the powerplay this season – by far the highest of any bowler in the tournament. He came back and removed Heinrich Klaasen in his final over to complete a splendid four-wicket haul. With Shami in such prime form, Gujarat will not be short on confidence heading into the playoffs.
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Mohit with dream first over
Mohit Sharma has been a standout story in IPL 2023. Against Hyderabad, he enjoyed a dream start to his spell. He dismissed Sanvir Singh with his very first delivery, before removing Abdul Samad with the fourth to break the back of Hyderabad’s middle order. He then came back in his second over to remove Marco Jansen. Mohit is now Gujarat’s third-highest wicket-taker this season, behind only Shami and Rashid.
Sunrisers batters can’t catch a break
This was another humiliating outing for Hyderabad’s batters. At the end of powerplay, they were reeling at 45-4. By the halfway mark, that had become 66-7. That more or less summed up the season for a team that had promised so much. Though Klaasen produced a gritty knock of 64 off 44 balls to bring Hyderabad back into the contest, it was too little too late.