Gill, Sudharsan chase down 200 in style, seal playoff berth for Gujarat Titans

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New Delhi: Gujarat captain Shubman Gill and his opening partner Sai Sudharsan scripted an incredible run chase, handing Delhi Capitals a humbling 10-wicket defeat in the second IPL match on Sunday. In the process, they sealed their playoff berth, powering Gujarat to 205 for no loss with six balls to spare.
Chasing 200 for victory, Sudharsan (108) and Gill (93) remained unbeaten as they obliterated a quickfire century by KL Rahul. Sudharsan struck 12 boundaries and four sixes, including the final one to seal the victory. Gill clobbered seven sixes and three fours.
In a day that openers stole the show, Rahul hammered 14 fours and four sixes in an unbeaten 112 off 65 balls to propel Delhi Capitals to 199 for 3 after being put in to bat.
Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings confirmed their playoff berths with this win. Delhi Capitals, meanwhile, must win both of their remaining matches and rely on other results to stand a chance of qualifying for the knockout stage.
Gill, considered the front-runner to become India's Test team captain, and Sudarshan shredded Delhi's plans to open with a spin-pace combination and raced to 31 in two overs. T Natarajan leaked 20 runs in his over, with Sudharsan plundering 20 runs off Natarajan, including three fours and a six. Axar Patel, too, was expensive, conceding 11 and 12 in his first two overs.
Bangladesh’s Mustafizur Rahman and Sri Lanka’s Dushmantha Chameera briefly stemmed the flow of runs with tidy spells but could not break the partnership.
The spin duo of Vipraj Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav was introduced soon after, but they too failed to stop Sudarshan as the opener brought up his half-century in the ninth over. Gill, who had been playing second fiddle until then, shifted gears and began dealing in sixes. He scored his 50 in 33 balls to wilt DC's attack.
By the 15th over, GT hammered 154 and went onto finish the job in the 19th over.
Earlier, after an early setback, Rahul anchored the DC innings, forging a 90-run with Abishek Porel (30) and a 45-run partnership in 26 balls with skipper Axar Patel (25), and an unbroken 48-run stand off 22 deliveries with Tristan Stubbs (21 not out).
On most days, 199 would have been a challenging score. But not today.