NEW DELHI: Centuries from
Shubman Gill
and opening partner
Sai Sudharsan
propelled the Gujarat Titans to a 35-run victory over the Chennai Super Kings in the Indian Premier League on Friday.
Captain Gill scored 104 off 55 balls, while left-hander Sudharsan achieved his maiden IPL century with an impressive 103 off 51 balls.
Both Gujarat openers reached their centuries in just 50 balls and established the joint-highest opening stand of 210 runs in IPL history.
CSK managed a brief comeback in the final overs, allowing only one boundary in the last three overs.
Tushar Deshpande
removed both century-makers in the 18th over.
Sudharsan, who smashed seven sixes and five fours, was caught at extra cover, while Gill, who hit six sixes and nine fours, was deceived by a slower ball and caught at deep midwicket.
"When you've got 100k people supporting you, becomes easier. Just the freeness of it. When we were batting out there, we didn't have any targets in mind. Were just maximising the opportunities in front of us. We have a good camaraderie between us. Even last year we batted a lot together. Lot of fun batting with him," Gill said after the match.
GT's total of 231/3 faced a brief challenge while
Daryl Mitchell
(63) and Moeen Ali (56) were at the crease, but Chennai ultimately fell short, ending at 196/8.
"In terms of numbers, definitely it is (best opening partnership for GT). Mohit bhai has done this for us the last couple of years. Even last year, his bowling was a revelation. Even this year, two three bad games can happen to anyone. At one point we thought 250 was there for the taking. In the last 2-3 overs they bowled well also. Just had a feeling we were 10-15 short - not in terms of the match but in terms of the NRR going forward," he said.
Medium-pacer Mohit Sharma played a key role by dismissing both half-century-makers, finishing with figures of 3/31.
CSK's loss tightened up the race to the playoffs. CSK remained in the fourth and last playoff spot while GT were just outside but need to win their last two matches by big margins to drastically improve their net run rate.
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