Kohli hundred in vain as Gill-powered Gujarat knocks out Bangalore

Shubman Gill played an exceptional innings of 104* from just 52 deliveries, guiding Gujarat Titans to a thrilling victory and eliminating Royal Challengers from the TATA IPL 2023 tournament. The match took place at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru.

Virat Kohli had displayed his dominance once again with back-to-back centuries, propelling Royal Challengers Bangalore to a formidable total of 197/5. However, Gill's remarkable knock overshadowed Kohli's unbeaten 101*, resulting in GT eliminating RCB and helping Mumbai Indians secure a place in the playoffs.

In pursuit of 192, Gujarat Titans got off to a flying start but lost Wriddhiman Saha during the Powerplay. Saha and Gill managed to hit three boundaries in the second over, but Mohammed Siraj struck in the third over, dismissing Saha with an excellent one-handed catch at cover-point executed by Wayne Parnell. Despite a couple of fortunate boundaries and a six from Vijay Shankar, who replaced Yash Dayal, in the sixth over, GT reached 51/1 at the end of the Powerplay.

Gill and Shankar maintained a steady flow of runs with occasional boundaries, taking GT to 90/1 at the halfway stage. Gill completed his fifty off just 29 balls and then unleashed an assault on Doug Bracewell, smashing two sixes and accumulating 16 runs from the over. Shankar also contributed to the run-scoring spree, hitting a couple of fours and a massive 106-meter six off Vijaykumar Vyshak. However, Vyshak made a strong comeback by dismissing Shankar (53 off 35) in the same over, caught at deep mid-wicket. GT suffered another setback as Dasun Shanaka mistimed his shot to deep mid-wicket in the following over from Harshal Patel.

Despite the setbacks, Gill's exceptional innings guided Gujarat Titans to a remarkable victory, chasing down the target and securing their spot in the playoffs, while knocking Royal Challengers out of the tournament.

David Miller made an impactful entrance by striking a boundary wide of short fine leg off the first ball when Gujarat Titans required 43 runs from 24 deliveries. Vijaykumar Vyshak bowled a decent over, managing to prevent boundaries and conceding only nine runs, leaving GT with a target of 34 runs from 18 balls.

In the subsequent over from Mohammed Siraj, Shubman Gill unleashed a massive six off the first ball. However, Siraj retaliated strongly, dismissing the dangerous Miller, caught at deep point, three balls later. Undeterred, Gill delivered a crucial blow by hitting another six over deep mid-wicket to bring the equation down to 19 runs needed from 12 balls.

Gill continued to strike the ball cleanly, adding another six off Harshal Patel in the penultimate over, collecting 11 runs from it. With eight runs required from the final over, Faf du Plessis entrusted the ball to Wayne Parnell. The left-arm pacer began with a wide delivery, but Gill successfully reviewed it as a waist-high no-ball, earning GT an extra run. Parnell followed it up with an extremely wide delivery outside off, resulting in another wide call after RCB's unsuccessful review. With six runs needed from the remaining six balls, Gill stylishly sealed the victory by smashing a sensational six over long-on, completing his century and securing the win for GT.