Brilliant Shubman Gill overshadows another epic Sooryavanshi innings to power Gujarat Titans (GT) to the Finals
Rajasthan Royals – 214/6 (Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 96 off 47 balls) lost to Gujarat Titans – 219/3 (18.4 overs) (Shubman Gill 104 off 53 balls) by 7 wickets
Man of the Match: Shubman Gill
The 2nd IPL Qualifier between Gujarat Titans (GT) and Rajasthan Royals (RR) pitted two top-heavy batting orders against each other, with GT holding a slight edge due to their superior bowling depth. RR, on the other hand, had the brilliance of Vaibhav Sooryavanshi to rely on. As seen in the Eliminator against Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH), he could single-handedly dismantle an entire opposition and decimate their best-laid plans.
Today, he played another gem of an innings, comparatively more sedate and mature than his previous one, but still ended up with a strike rate of above 200. With the only meaningful support coming at the end from Donovan Ferreira, who took Rashid Khan to the cleaners in the last over, RR put up a challenging 214/6. The GT openers Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, especially the former, then played some of the most sublime and majestic stroke play to chase down the target with considerable ease and guide GT to the finals.
RR lose early wicket but keep on counterattacking
After some confusion at the toss due to a muted call, the coin was re-spun. On a good batting pitch, RR won the toss and elected to bat first. They would have been hoping for another round of Vaibhav magic so that they could take the total beyond GT’s reach.
The GT opening bowlers Siraj and Rabada had different plans though. Bowling with pace, Siraj had Jaiswal out caught, pulling straight to long leg in the first over. Next over, Rabada bowled full and straight at 146 kmph to Jurel, who was hurried into the shot and mistimed it high towards mid-off where Gill took an easy catch. RR were 9/2, and Ravindra Jadeja was promoted up the order.
The bowlers were bowling short and fast at the body of Sooryavanshi, and initially, the plan seemed to be working as the 15-year-old struggled for timing. He scored his first boundary in Siraj’s second over with a cross-batted swipe which just about evaded mid-on. Two more boundaries towards long leg in the same over and a straight six towards the sightscreen off Rabada in the next over got him going. Strangely enough, he was on 27 off 14 balls by the fourth over, without looking as fluent as he can be.
At the other end, Jadeja was batting confidently as he pulled and hooked a predictable Prasidh Krishna in the last over of the powerplay for 16 runs. Despite the early wickets, the RR power play score was a respectable 70/2.
Injuries hit players from both sides, and RR lose momentum
The tournament seemed to claim another victim as Siraj was struggling with his shoulder, but gamely completed his third consecutive over without much discernible dip in pace. Next it was the turn of Jadeja, whose elbow was giving him problems, and he had to retire hurt at 34 off 19 balls.
Riyan Parag started confidently with 10 runs in 2 balls off a listless Rashid Khan, but was caught at deep midwicket, trying a similar shot off medium pacer Jason Holder. The GT bowlers then started to build up pressure as the runs started drying up. Sai Sudharsan dropped Sooryavanshi off Prasidh in the next over as he misjudged a high catch at long leg, starting sluggishly and then having to rush forward, only to spill it. Holder accounted for Sanaka with another short ball and RR inexplicably promoted Jofra Archer up the order.
The move did not work too well as Archer soon edged behind to the wicketkeeper off Prasidh and RR were 120/5 in 13 overs. The last four overs had gone for 20/3, and RR batting was crumbling.
Vaibhav breaks loose and RR finish on a high
Jadeja had to return to the crease, and it was evident that he was hampered by his injury. His strike rate till then had been around 179, but he scored 11 more runs in the next 16 balls and remained unbeaten till the end.
Sooryavanshi scored his 50 off 31 balls, amazingly, his slowest in the IPL, and immediately started teeing off. Rabada was hammered for a lofted cover drive, and next over, Siraj was pulled over fine leg, both shots going for six.
Rabada mentioned after the end of the first innings that the pitch had a tennis ball-like bounce. Sooryavanshi seemed to have come to the same conclusion as he brought out his inner Nadal in the next over. Three double-handed forehands off the short ball barrage from Holder brought him 14 runs, two of them going towards deep extra cover for four and one straight over the bowler’s head for six. Next, Sundar was tonked flat over his head for a six and then slog swept high over long leg.
Just when a century looked like a formality, he top-edged an uppercut straight down to third man’s throat and was dismissed yet again in the 90s for a scintillating 96 off 47 balls. He had scored 46 off the last 16 balls. Despite his innings, RR were 172/6 with 22 balls remaining, and were in danger of posting an underwhelming target.
Donovan Ferreira ensured that did not happen. He took Rashid Khan to the cleaners, smacking him for four sixes in the last over and finished at 38 off 11 balls, and RR scored 214/6 in their 20 overs.
GT openers show their class
RR had scored well and would have fancied their chances, but they would have been aware that they had to get rid of the GT top 3 as soon as possible. Archer had been their most potent weapon and their best chance for early wickets. Archer started with a 19-run first over, and the next ball, Burger bowled a wild, wide ball that evaded all, including the keeper and slip fielders, for a boundary. 24 runs off the first 6 legal deliveries from RR, and GT could afford to pace themselves.
Sudharsan tried launching Burger in the fourth over and top-edged on the midwicket area, only to be shelled by Ferreira. The powerplay score was 69/0, one run less than that of RR, but they had all their wickets intact. The GT openers were playing all around the wicket, but Gill’s straight drives and offside play were something to savour. As the innings progressed, the timing appeared to get even more exquisite. He appeared focused and even his aggressive shots looked totally risk-free.
Gill targeted Deshpande in the ninth over and started with a superb pull for a flat six over deep square leg. Two more off-side boundaries in that over brought him his half-century in 30 balls. Jadeja was taken for 19 runs next over, 18 of them off Gill’s blade as he either stepped out to loft over long on for six or made room to hit on the off side for four, never letting the spinner settle on a line or length. Yash Raj Punja was given the same treatment as he was taken for two glorious extra cover boundaries.
Sudharshan, not too far behind his captain on aesthetics, targeted the off side and played to the field perfectly. Two consecutive shots off Yash Raj in the eighth over were placed for boundaries, each time beating the deep cover fielder on either side. His first six off the same bowler over the cover region brought him to his 50 off just 26 balls.
Just when the chase seemed too easy, Sudharshan managed to get himself dismissed hit wicket for the second time in as many matches, as he again lost grip of his bat handle and the bat flew and landed directly on the stumps. Both times, he had dispatched the ball to the boundary, only to look back to see the stumps disturbed.
Batsmen have gone through entire careers without ever having been dismissed hit wicket at any level. And here we have a young man who has managed to do that to himself twice within a week. If anything, the accuracy seems to be getting better, as in the last match, the bat had bounced and spun to hit the wicket, whereas here, it hit the stumps on the full.
Gill, on the other hand, was pulling the length / short balls off the pacers with ease towards the deep midwicket boundary. Fittingly, he reached his century off 47 balls off a lofted cover drive off Jadeja, the last of his 61 runs coming off just 20 balls. It was a perfectly placed innings and a captain’s knock of the highest class.
Archer was brought back in the fourteenth over, far too late, looking at the match situation. He dismissed Gill LBW to generate some interest. But with 33 runs required in 30 balls and 8 wickets remaining, the match was gone. 14 runs off the first four balls of the 19th over, and the match was done and dusted.
RR fought well, but their top and middle order could not support their 15-year-old superstar. GT will be delighted to reach the final, but there might be some concerns regarding Siraj’s fitness and Rashid’s form. Their top-order batting is in great nick, but we all knew that. It is what comes later that might worry a few in the GT camp.