Shubman Gill, showcased his exceptional form once again during the IPL 2023 Qualifier 2 clash between the Gujarat Titans (GT) and the Mumbai Indians (MI) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Friday. Gill’s magnificent display of batting prowess resulted in him scoring his third century of the season.

Chasing runs and record

Having already impressed with centuries against the Sunrisers Hyderabad and the Royal Challengers Bangalore in consecutive matches during the IPL 2023 league phase, the 23-year-old continued to dazzle on the field. Gill’s ability to consistently deliver exceptional performances has made him a standout player in the tournament.

However, after a scintillating innings, Gill’s fine run came to an end when he was caught in the deep by Tim David. David had earlier missed an opportunity to dismiss Gill but made amends with a crucial catch. Gill’s final score stood at an impressive 129 runs from just 60 balls, which included seven fours and an incredible ten sixes.

Netizens, cricketer and former cricketers reacted wildly to the exceptional batting by Shubman Gill.

One fan hilariously Tweeted: “BCCI plants trees for every dot ball, but Shubman Gill is on a mission for deforestation.”

This was in reference to the BCCI’s initiative to plant trees for every dot ball thrown in the four IPL playoff games.

Lucknow Super Giants’ skipper Krunal Pandya has taken all blame for his team’s defeat in the Eliminator match of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 as his untimely dismissal to an atrocious shot into motion a sequence of events that resulted in team’s eventual defeat.

Krunal Pandya promoted himself in the batting order and came in at No.4 but was out for eight runs, jumping out to attempt a big one against veteran spinner Piyush Chawla but ended up finding Tim David at long-on.

Though Chawla played his role, Krunal Pandya too contributed to his own downfall as playing the shot was totally unnecessary.

“We were in a really good position. Everything started when I played that shot… that was not on, and I completely take all the blame. The wicket was the same. We just had to bat better, just take that responsibility. But we didn’t do it after that break (the first time-out),” Krunal Pandya said during the post-match presentation on Wednesday night.

Pacer Akash Madhwal picked a sensational five-wicket haul (5/5) and helped Mumbai Indians advance to Qualifier 2 of IPL 2023 with a thumping 81-win over LSG at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, here on Wednesday.

Batting first, Mumbai made 182/8, with Cameron Green and Suryakumar Yadav chipping in with 41 and 33 respectively. Tilak Varma hit a 22-ball 26 and Nehal Wadhera, who slammed a crucial 23 off 12 balls, provided the late impetus to the innings.

Madhwal turned the tide effectively in Mumbai’s favour, finishing with an exceptional 5/5 in 3.1 overs, which is the best-ever bowling figure in IPL playoffs history as well as the most economical five-fer in the tournament and, the best bowling performance by an uncapped Indian player.

Krunal defended their decision to include Kyle Myers ahead of South African opener Quinton de Kock.

“It’s always a tough decision; it’s just Kyle had a better record here [than de Kock]. We just felt we could go with Kyle,” he said.

He said he opened the bowling with himself and fellow spinner Krishnappa Gowtham because he wanted to do something different.

Gujarat Titans (GT) skipper Hardik Pandya expressed his delight over MS Dhoni’s success after Chennai Super Kings (CSK) secured a place in the IPL 2023 final.

He also mentioned that it would be delightful to encounter him in the final match on Sunday.

Put into bat, the CSK opener Ruturaj Gaikwad starred with the bat as he hit a flamboyant 60(44) to lay the platform. Towards the end, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja and Moeen Ali chipped in with cameos as CSK managed to post a competitive total of 172/7.

In reply, GT couldn’t manage to build up any significant partnerships as they kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Ravindra Jadeja (2/18) and Maheesh Theekshana (2/28) then spun a web around the GT batters with spin, pace and bounce as a collective bowling effort saw CSK bowl GT out for 157 and cruise into their 10th IPL final.

Speaking after the loss Hardik said basic errors cost them the game, adding that the team doesn’t need to dwell too deeply on the defeat and instead, our focus is on regrouping and preparing for Qualifier two.

“I think we were quite spot-on (with the ball), but we made basic errors and that cost us the game. The kind of bowlers we had, I felt we conceded 15 extra runs. A lot of things we did right. We bowled a couple of soft balls in between. We were executing our plans and then in between we gave some runs. I don’t think we need to look much into it.

“We have to play two days later, we have to play one more game to make sure we reach the final. Just focus on the things that we’ve done really well this season,” said Hardik at the post-match presentation.

Hardik further congratulated Dhoni and said the CSK skipper has made it seem like he adds an additional 10 runs to the team’s total through strategic use of his bowlers.

“That’s the beauty about him (Dhoni), with his mind and the way he uses the bowlers, he’ll make sure that you’ll feel like he’s adding 10 runs. We kept losing wickets, he kept changing the bowlers, credit to him. Happy for him, would be nice to meet him on Sunday.

“Regrets are not good in life. We expected dew would come; it didn’t come. We didn’t do right in both departments. We’ll give a crack again after two days,” said Hardik.