Gill guides Gujarat to a 7-wicket win over Hyderabad in IPL
HYDERABAD, India (AP) — Shubman Gill scored a well-calculated 61 runs not out as Gujarat Titans beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by seven wickets with 20 balls remaining in the Indian Premier League on Sunday.
It was Gill’s first half-century of the season and it helped Gujarat climb to second in the points table with a third consecutive win. Gill hit nine fours in his 43-ball knock.
Spin all-rounder Washington Sundar contributed 49 off 29 in the successful chase as Gujarat finished with 153-3 in 16.4 overs.
Hyderabad earlier suffered another poor batting display and was restricted to 152-8 in 20 overs after losing the toss. Pacer Mohammed Siraj picked up 4-17 in four overs.
Hyderabad loses again
It was a fourth consecutive loss for Hyderabad as it languishes in last place in the 10-team table.
Hyderabad’s hard-hitting top order failed to get going once again and crumbled against Siraj’s opening spell. Travis Head was caught for eight and Abhishek Sharma dismissed for 18.
Ishan Kishan, a centurion in the first game, scored only 17 before falling to Prasidh Krishna, as the 2024 runners-up were reduced to 50-3 in 7.2 overs.
The run rate was still decent and Nitish Reddy put on 50 off 39 balls with Heinrich Klaasen (27) for the fourth wicket.
Klaasen, the most expensive overseas player this season, is yet to score a half-century in five matches. He faced 19 balls, and hit two fours and a six.
Reddy top-scored for his team with 31 off 34, including three fours, as Gujarat spinners tightened their grip. Sai Kishore took 2-24 in four overs, even as Rashid Khan went for 0-31 in his spell.
Hyderabad continued losing regular wickets after the fourth-wicket partnership ended in the 14th over. Skipper Pat Cummins’ nine-ball cameo at the end – 22 not out with three fours and a six – saw his side cross the 150-mark.
Poor start
Gujarat’s reply didn’t start well.
Mohammed Shami (2-28) sent back Sai Sudharsan for five. Cummins then claimed the big wicket of in-form Jos Buttler – caught behind for a three-ball duck.
That brought Gill and Sundar together, and they put on a match-winning partnership for the third wicket.
The duo added 90 off 56 balls, with Sundar taking the attacking role. Promoted to No. 4 in the lineup, Sundar smashed five fours and two sixes.
Shami got the breakthrough against the run of play when Sundar was dismissed at the start of the 14th over. But Sundar was replaced by an even more aggressive Sherfane Rutherford, who came in as an impact substitute.
The West Indies all-rounder hit 35 not out off 16 balls, including six fours and a six to help wrap up things quickly for Gujarat.
Gill reached his 50 in 36 balls and stayed on till the end.
Change in Sunday fixtures
Sunday’s doubleheader was reduced to a single game. Kolkata Knight Riders was supposed to host Lucknow SuperGiants but it was shifted to Tuesday after a request from Kolkata police due to religious festivities in the city.
Tuesday will become a doubleheader: Punjab will host Chennai in the evening after the Kolkata-Lucknow game.
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