Gujarat Titans reached their second consecutive final after beating Mumbai Indians (Sportzpics)
Shubman Gill scored 129 runs powering Gujarat Titans to a massive 223/3, and in reply Mumbai Indians could only score 171 after Mohit Sharma’s fifer
Shubman Gill smashed a blistering knock of 129 runs in 60 balls against Mumbai Indians to help Gujarat Titans reach the IPL 2023 final following a commanding 62-run victory over Rohit Sharma’s side.
Chasing Gujarat Titans’ massive total of 234, the five-time IPL champs could only muster up 171 in reply.
Mohit Sharma picked up a five-wicket haul to help jolt Mumbai’s batting order as Rohit’s side suffered a defeat and were eliminated from the playoffs while GT made it into their second consecutive final having lifted the trophy last season.
In the final, Hardik’s side will square off against MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings on May 28 at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
Suryakumar Yadav smashed 61 in 38 balls, while Tilak Varma scored 43 in 14 balls and Cameron Green added 30 in 20 but it was no show from the rest of the batting lineup as seven Mumbai Indians batsmen failed to reach double figures.
Earlier, Rohit had won the toss following a rain delay and he predictably chose to bowl given the weather and his side’s chasing capabilities but MI were given a mountain too steep to climb.
GT got off to a blistering start as Gill and Wriddhiman Saha stitched together an opening stand of 54 runs before Piyush Chawla dismissed Saha. Gill continued his assault on MI bowlers and he joined hands with Sai Sudharsan who added 43 in 31 balls before being retired out.
Gill was handed two massive lifelines, having dropped at 30 by Tim David while Tilak didn’t dive to take a catch when the GT opener was batting at 37.
As a consequence, he punished the MI bowlers and smashed a century in 49 balls, before going on to score 129 as David completed the catch to end Gill’s knock.
Pandya then scored 28 in 13 balls to provide a flourishing finish to his side.
Ishan Kishan picked up a bizarre injury when he was accidentally caught by his own teammate Chris Jordan and thus he didn’t come out to open the innings alongside Rohit.
Nehwal Wadhera didn’t last long, neither did Rohit as MI’s chase got off to a disastrous start. Green and Suryakumar’s partnership appeared to keep Mumbai in the game however once SKY departed, it went all downhill for the five-time IPL champs from there.