NEW DELHI: Gujarat Titans captain Hardik Pandya on Sunday praised Shubman Gill for his exceptional performance, leading their team to a six-wicket victory over Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB).
Gill scored an outstanding century (101 not out) and secured a six-wicket win for Gujarat Titans at the M.Chinnaswamy Stadium in their IPL 2023 match.
"The calmness which the boys had was terrific. We wanted to keep the momentum going. We have ticked a lot of boxes. (On Gill) He knows when he plays those cricketing shots and bats like a batter, it is a different Shubman Gill. Today, the kind of options he picked and the kind of places where he was hitting, as a bowler he does not give any chance. That makes him very special and the other batter gets confidence from him as well," Hardik said in a post-match presentation.
"We would have taken 197 at the start, but we did not bowl well. Special innings from Virat, he batted well but we went too early for death bowling. I cannot ask anything better from the boys. Last year, we did well, everything went our way. This year was a different challenge for us. We were expecting people to challenge us. The boys showed tremendous character. A lot of credit goes to all the boys for the way they worked hard throughout," he added.
Put to bat first by GT, RCB posted a total of 197/5 in their 20 overs.
Gujarat Titans chased down the target with five balls to spare.
The defending champions will be playing CSK in the first qualifier on Tuesday.
1/10:IPL 2023: Gujarat Titans eliminate Royal Challengers Bangalore
ANI
2/10:GT beat RCB
<p>Gujarat Titans opener Shubman Gill hit a superb century to outdo Virat Kohli's second successive ton as Royal Challengers Bangalore were eliminated from the IPL on Sunday.</p>PTI
3/10:Shubman Gill
<p>Gill followed his century against Sunrisers Hyderabad with an unbeaten 104 off 52 balls as Gujarat reached 198/4 with five balls to spare for a six-wicket win.</p>PTI
4/10:RCB 197/5
<p>Kohli with 101 not out — his record seventh century in the IPL — anchored RCB to 197/5 but Gill powered Gujarat's run chase by hitting eight sixes and five fours.</p>PTI
5/10:RCB openers
<p>After the start was delayed by nearly an hour because of rain, Kohli and captain Faf du Plessis combined in a 67-run opening stand off 43 balls. </p>PTI
6/10:35-ball 50
<p>But Gujarat spinner Noor Ahmad (2/39) and Rashid Khan (1/24) squeezed the runs in the middle overs as Kohli raised his half-century off 35 balls. </p>PTI
7/10:7 IPL tons
<p>Kohli upped the scoring rate in the death overs with his superb drives on both sides of the wicket and became the first batter in IPL history to score seven centuries. </p>PTI
8/10:Kohli ton
<p>Kohli scooped Mohit Sharma (0/54) to long on in the final over for a single to raise his hundred off 60 balls only to see Gill's brilliance take the win away from his team. </p>PTI
9/10:Match-winner
<p>Gill defied the data favoring teams batting first and winning at Bangalore in the recent past with his superb stroke play. </p>PTI
10/10:Match-winning stand
<p>Gill and Vijay Shankar (53) put on a match-winning stand of 123 runs for the second wicket. </p>PTIGill was adjudged Man of the Match for his spectacular knock.
