The Gujarat Titans (GT) became the first team to have the ‘Q’ of qualified beside their name as not only do they have a place in the playoffs, but Hardik Pandya’s side has also secured a top-2 finish after a thumping win over Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) in Ahmedabad on Monday.
Shubman Gill‘s love affair with the Narendra Modi stadium, a venue where he’s hit a T20I and a Test century, continued as the 23-year-old slammed his maiden IPL century, in his 6th season, finally ending the wait in the biggest T20 league of all. Gill was smooth and rapid from the outset of his innings, bringing up his fifty in 22 balls and century in 56 balls.
GT, though, didn’t have an ideal finish to their innings as Bhuvneshwar Kumar‘s five-wicket haul derailed GT’s march top 200 runs and restricted them to 188. That proved 34 runs more than what Hyderabad Based Franchise could manage. Sunrisers Hyderabad were blown away early in their chase by the GT pacers and Sunrisers Hyderabad slumped to 29/4, then to 59/7. Klassen smashed a fifty, but that could only delay the loss.
Are SRH out of the IPL 2023 playoff race?
Can SRH still qualify for playoffs in IPL 2023?
Sunrisers Hyderabad become the second team after Delhi Capitals to be knocked out from the playoff race after loss vs Gujarat Titans. Both Sunrisers Hyderabad and Delhi Capitals have 8 points in 12 matches and at maximum can reach to 12 points, which won’t be sufficient for a playoff berth.
GT will continue on ther tide of defending their title and will play in the Qualifier 1 in Chennai. 7 others teams continue to compete for the remaining 3 playoff spots.
SRH captain Aiden Markram said: “We were in the game at the halfway mark but when you lose four wickets in the powerplay, it becomes difficult. (On their bowling) We were slightly off, to be honest. We’ve got high-class bowlers who can swing the ball. Shubman’s innings was incredible and so did their number three. We stuck in there and credit goes to Bhuvi to show us how it’s done.”
“(On Klaasen) He’s a great player and I’m very happy for him, the world can see the class and power he’s got. The rest of us haven’t assisted him. It’s tough for him to be on the losing side after performing the way he has. (On their remaining two games) A lot of pride for us to play for. We’ll try to give some opportunities if we’re allowed to. It’ll be nice to finish off the tournament in good spirits but unfortunately, we haven’t been good enough in the tournament this year. When a team is one down in the backend, it can go either of the two ways. It was important to break the partnership and Bhuvi did that for us. He’s been exceptional for us and Nattu as well
