By IBNS May 22, 2023
Bengaluru/UNI: Shubman Gills unbeaten 104 off 52 balls helped Gujarat Titans pip Royal Challengers Bangalore by six wickets and oust the hosts from the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 at Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Sunday.
Virat Kohlis 101 off 61 balls was not enough for his side to take the route to the playoffs as they finished with 14 points from as many matches.
RCBs loss helped Mumbai Indians to qualify as they finished in the points table with 16 points from 14 matches.
Gills golden run of form with the bat this year has been a revelation as he played a crucial role in keeping Gujarat at the top of the table with 20 points.
Chasing 198 runs target, Wriddhiman Saha fell early after making 12 runs, smashing two boundaries in his innings, before he was caught by Wyne Parnell off Mohammad Siraj.
Gill and Impact Player Vijay Shankar put down their heads and stitched a match-winning 123 for the second wicket. Shankar scored a magnificent 53 off 35 balls, an innings studded with 7 boundaries and 2 sixes.
Dasun Shanaka (0) and David Miller (6) and Rahul Tewatia remained unbeaten on 4.
With 8 needed off the last over, Faf du Plessis handed over the ball to Parnell who started off with a wide, but Gill reviewed it for waist high no ball successfully.
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 Gujarat.
Earlier, Gujarat 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.
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.
Kohli and Faf again got Bangalore off to a breezy start. Faf opened up in the third over as he cracked four fours off Mohammad 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 the hosts 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 Faf (28 off 19) which flicked keeper Wriddhiman Sahas pads and popped up to Rahul Tewatia at first slip.
Glenn 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 Bangalore.
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 Sharma before Shami provided a crucial breakthrough by having Bracewell (26 off 16) caught and bowled. Gujarat 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.