Gujarat Titans on Monday became the 1st team to officially qualify for the final stages of TATA Indian Premier League 2023. The defending TATA IPL champions beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 34 runs at the Narendra Modi Stadium at Ahmedabad. The loss for Sunrisers meant that they, like Delhi Capitals, been eliminated from the tournament. On the back of this win, Hyderabad are now sure to finish at the top of the table with one last match left against Royal Challengers Bangalore.
The story as it happened –
Aiden Markram won the toss and chose to bowl first in a bid to make use of the dew while chasing. It was a key game for the 2016 champions in a bid to keep their hopes alive to make it to the top 4 in the table.
Ashish Nehra’s argument with Hardik Pandya caught on camera –
Former Indian pacer, Ashish Nehra has been earning rave reviews for his football style of managing. The Gujarat Titans coach has been praised for his no-nonsense and non-interfering approach.
After Shubman Gill scored his maiden IPL ton, Nehra was seen having an argument with Hardik Pandya. The reason for this was the slow approach shown by Gill and his partner Sai Sudarshan while they were batting.
Shubman Gill In 2023 :-
— Priyanshu (@PriyanshuVK18K) May 15, 2023
~ Double Hundred In ODI .
~ Century In T20I .
~ Century In Test .
~ Century In IPL .#GTvSRHpic.twitter.com/LUZPph6hWG
Akash Chopra has his say on the issue –
During the middle innings break, former Indian opener Aakash Chopra who was also Ashish Nehra’s team mate lauded the 44 year old. According to Chopra the reason for Nehra’s anger was Gujarat Titans inability to reach 200 despite scoring at over 10 runs per over at one stage.
Gill century takes GT to 188 –
Shubman Gill scored his 1st IPL century and was the lead scorer along with Sai Sudarshan who scored 47. Infact none of the other batters managed to reach double figures. Gill scored 101 off 58 balls with 13 fours and a six. Sudarshan scored his 47 off 36 balls with 6 fours and a six. The Titans reached 188 from their 20 overs for the loss of 9 wickets.
Bhuvneshwar Kumar picks a fifer –
The star for Hyderabad with the ball was veteran Indian pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The 33 year old picked 5/30 from his 4 overs with the key wickets of Gill and Hardik Pandya as well Saha for a duck. Kumar then got the wickets of Rashid Khan and Mohammad Shami to reach his 5 wicket mark.
Titans bowling holds out for a 34 run win –
Chasing 189 to win, Heinrich Klassen with 64 and Bhuvneshwar Kumar with 27 were only bright spark. Mohammad Shami did the damage with the ball with 4/20 from his 4 overs. Mohit Sharma too picked 4 wickets with 4/28 from his 4 overs. Klassen’s 64 came off 44 balls with 4 fours and 3 sixes