Shubman Gill’s exceptional century overshadowed Virat Kohli’s knock of 101 runs, leading the Gujarat Titans (GT) to a commanding 6-wicket victory over the Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) in their Indian Premier League 2023 (IPL 2023) match at M Chinnaswamy Stadium on Sunday.
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Gill’s unbeaten 104 off 52 deliveries guided the Gujarat Titans to a thrilling win, eliminating the Royal Challengers from their IPL 2023 playoffs hopes. Kohli displayed his brilliance with a second consecutive century, guiding RCB to 197/5. However, Gill’s exceptional 104 not out eventually saw the Titans knock the Royal Challengers out of the Indian Premier League 2023. Any hopes RCB had of making it to the IPL 2023 playoffs were crushed.
Shubman Gill seals off the chase with a MAXIMUM 👏🏻👏🏻@gujarat_titans finish the league stage on a high 😎#TATAIPL | #RCBvGT pic.twitter.com/bZQJ0GmZC6
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 21, 2023
Chasing a target of 198, the Titans began their innings rapidly but lost Wriddhiman Saha in the powerplay. Mohammed Siraj dismissed Saha in the third over after a superb one-handed catch by Wayne Parnell. Vijay Shankar contributed with a couple of fours and a six, taking GT to 51/1 at the end of the powerplay.
Meanwhile, Gill reached his fifty off 29 balls and then punished Doug Bracewell, smashing two sixes from his over. Shankar also joined in, hitting a couple of fours and a huge six off Vijaykumar Vyshak. However, Vyshak dismissed Shankar for 53 off 35 deliveries, ending a 123-run partnership.
Gujarat Titans then lost two quick wickets. David Miller came to the crease and scored a four, bringing the equation down to 43 runs needed off 24 balls. Vyshak then conceded only nine runs, as the target was reduced to 34 needed off 18.
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In the following over, Gill struck a massive six off Siraj’s first ball. However, Siraj dismissed Miller three balls later. But Gill’s aggressive batting brought the equation down to 19 required off 12.
Gill continued his clean hitting, smashing another six off Harshal Patel in the penultimate over, with the Gujarat Titans accumulating 11 runs from the over. The Titans needed 8 runs off the final over, and then six off the last ball. Gill then sealed the win with a six over long-on to reach his century and secure the win for his team.
Earlier in the match, Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to bowl first. RCB’s openers Virat Kohli and Faf du Plessis gace the side a strong start by scoring runs briskly. Du Plessis hit four fours in the third over, while Kohli smacked three consecutive fours off Yash Dayal in the following over. The pair guided RCB to 62/0 at the end of the powerplay.
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RCB scored 15 off the last over to post a formidable 197/5, with Kohli remaining unbeaten on 101 off 61 balls and Rawat at 23 not out off 15.
Half century number 7️⃣ for @imVkohli in #TATAIPL 2023 🙌🙌
He's picked up where he left from in Hyderabad 😎#TATAIPL | #RCBvGT pic.twitter.com/n2l6FgmYaz
— IndianPremierLeague (@IPL) May 21, 2023
RCB eliminated from IPL 2023, Mumbai through to playoffs
In their final league match, Royal Challengers Bangalore needed to defeat the defending champions Gujarat Titans to secure a spot in the IPL 2023 playoffs following Mumbai Indians’ win earlier in the day. However, RCB were unable to defend their target and bowed out of the IPL 2023 after an impressive run.
As a result, Gujarat Titans finished in the top spot, while Chennai Super Kings, Lucknow Super Giants, and Mumbai Indians secured second, third, and fourth place respectively in the IPL 2023 standings.
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The first qualifier match will take place on Tuesday at the MA Chidambaram Stadium between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings. Meanwhile, the Eliminator will be held on Wednesday at the same venue between Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians.
The losing team from the first qualifier and the winning team from the eliminator will face each other in the second IPL 2023 qualifier match at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Gujarat on Friday.
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The final match of the Indian Premier League 2023 will be played on May 28 at the Narendra Modi Stadium between the winner of the first qualifier and the second qualifier.
