Shubman Gill delivered a captain's knock as Gujarat Titans stormed into the Indian Premier League 2026 final with a commanding seven-wicket victory over Rajasthan Royals in Qualifier 2 at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Friday.
The win set up a summit clash against defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday, May 31.
Chasing a formidable target of 215, Gujarat Titans showcased remarkable composure with the bat and sealed the chase comfortably with eight deliveries to spare. At the heart of the run chase was Gill, who lit up the contest with a stunning century off just 47 balls, the fastest hundred hit by a Gujarat Titans batter in the IPL , surpassing his own previous record.
Gill smashed 15 boundaries and three sixes during his dazzling innings before being trapped lbw by Jofra Archer after scoring 104 off 53 deliveries.
A knock to salute ????
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Gill was also instrumental in putting together a 167-run opening partnership with Sai Sudharsan who hit 58 off 32 balls before getting hit-wicket while attempting to play a shot to a delivery by Brijesh Sharma. Sudharsan had also got out hit-wicket in Qualifier-I against RCB.
The century also strengthened Gill's position in the race for the Orange Cap. The GT captain has now accumulated 722 runs this season and sits second on the list of leading run-getters, trailing Rajasthan Royals opener Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who has scored 778 runs.
Earlier RR captain Riyan Parag won the toss and opted to bat first.
The 2022 champions were off to a slow start as Yashavi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel were dismissed inside the first two overs of the innings. With the team suffering early blows, Sooryavanshi brought out the patient side of his batting as he reached his half-century in 31 deliveries, marking his slowest IPL fifty.
After reaching the fifty, the 15-year-old shifted gears and he got the next 46 runs in mere 16 deliveries. Attempting to get to the hundred in style, he cut a short ball from Kagiso Rabada and was caught by Prasidh Krishna at third-man. The teenager walked back after scoring 96 off 47 balls.
Rajasthan were also aided by valuable contributions from Ravindra Jadeja, who remained unbeaten on 45 off 32 balls, and Donovan Ferreira's late cameo of 38 off just 11 deliveries powered Rajasthan Royals to a competitive total of 214/6.
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