Gujarat Titans cruised to a commanding 38-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad in Friday’s Indian Premier League fixture, powered by explosive half-centuries from captain Shubman Gill and Jos Buttler.
Gill led the charge with a blistering 76 off just 38 balls, while Buttler hammered 64 from 37 deliveries. Sai Sudharsan also chipped in with a quickfire 48 off 23 as Gujarat posted a formidable total of 224 for 6.
In reply, Hyderabad never truly threatened the steep target. Despite a valiant 74-run knock from Abhishek Sharma, the rest of the batting lineup failed to fire. Fast bowlers Prasidh Krishna (2 for 19) and Mohammed Siraj (2 for 33) played key roles in derailing the chase, restricting Hyderabad to 186 for 6.
With this win, Gujarat Titans climbed to second place in the 10-team standings, while last year’s finalists Sunrisers Hyderabad slipped to ninth, now teetering on the edge of playoff elimination.
Hyderabad stalled
The 225 target was steep, and only steeper after Krishna removed opener Travis Head for 20 to Rashid Khan's stunning diving catch and No. 4 Klaasen for 23.
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Ishan Kishan continued to struggle since his century in the opening game as he labored for 17 balls to 13 runs, and Gerald Coetzee, playing his first match of the season, found a leading edge and gave Krishna a regulation catch at deep third man.
Sharma did the bulk of the scoring and hit six sixes and four boundaries before Gujarat sealed the game with four wickets for six runs within 12 balls.
Siraj took out Aniket Verma and Kamindu Mendis for a combined three runs and was on a hat trick but captain Pat Cummins defended it.
Hyderabad, apart from Sharma though, struggled to pose a threat.
Gill leads Gujarat to big total
Openers Gill and Sudharsan set the platform for Gujarat.
Their electrifying 82 runs together off 41 balls in the powerplay, including 13 boundaries, was Gujarat’s best ever.
The left-handed Sudharsan, who smashed five boundaries in one over off Mohammed Shami, became the leading run-scorer in this IPL. He's also the second fastest batter in Twenty20s to complete 2,000 runs, in 54 matches.
Sudharsan was out in the seventh over, caught behind, but Buttler joined Gill and upped the ante with smart, powerful hitting.
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Gill reached his fifty in 25 balls, and was run out at 149-2 on a single he called, by Harshal Patel’s throw deflected by wicketkeeper Heinrich Klaasen. Gill hit 10 fours and two sixes.
Buttler, dropped on 22 by Cummins, reached his fifty in 31 balls. He eventually fell to a catch on the boundary off a Cummins delivery in the penultimate over.