Much like they have done all season, the Gujarat Titans barely needed to break sweat to seal their play-off spot in this season바카라™s Indian Premier League. (As It Happened)
The Titans did it in style on Sunday with a 10-wicket win over the Delhi Capitals at the Feroz Shah Kotla, led by a breathtaking 205-run opening stand between captain Shubman Gil and Sai Sudharsan.
Sudharsan led the charge with a brilliant 108 not out off 61 balls, striking at 177.04, while Gill finished just short of a century with 93 not out off 53 balls, at an impressive 175.47 strike rate.
The duo played their trademark brand of aggressive, low-risk cricket, finding gaps and rotating the strike effortlessly to make light work of Delhi바카라™s first innings target of 199, chasing it down with an over to spare.
Delhi바카라™s total was powered by a spectacular century from KL Rahul, who was promoted to open the innings, as he has done for the majority of his IPL career.
Rahul was DC바카라™s standout batter, ending with 112 not out off 65 바카라“ at a very healthy strike-rate of 172.30 바카라“ but his knock ultimately went in vain as Sudharsan and Gill decimated the Capitals바카라™ bowling lineup.
The win seals GT바카라™s play-off spot, but with two games left, they will certainly be eyeing a top-two finish.
With this result, the Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings are also certain of qualification as no team can overtake them on points alone, leaving just one spot up for grabs.
Delhi, meanwhile, have a mountain to climb if they are to claim the last spot, particularly with a tough run of fixtures awaiting them at the back end.
Data debrief: A series of centuries
Both Sudharsan and Rahul played brilliant innings, and it바카라™s unfortunate that Rahul바카라™s century came in a losing cause.
On Sunday, Rahul became the first player to score an IPL hundred for three different teams, having done so with Punjab Kings, Lucknow Super Giants and now Delhi Capitals.
Overall, he has scored five IPL hundreds, with only Virat Kohli (eight), Jos Buttler (seven) and Chris Gayle (six) having made more.
Meanwhile, Sudharsan became the season바카라™s top run-scorer with his century, taking his tally to 617 runs. His unbeaten opening stand with Gill also saw Gujarat become only the second team in T20 history to chase down a target of 200 or more without losing a wicket.
