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Gill ton fires Gujarat to 233-3 against Mumbai in IPL playoff / Photo: © AFP
Gill ton fires Gujarat to 233-3 against Mumbai in IPL playoff
Red-hot Shubman Gill smashed 129 off 60 balls to power holders Gujarat Titans to 233-3 against Mumbai Indians after a rain-hit start to the final Indian Premier League playoff on Friday.
Gill hit 10 sixes in his third century in four innings and put on a second-wicket stand of 138 with Sai Sudharsan, who made 43, to tear into the opposition attack in Ahmedabad.
He became the leading batsman this season with 851 runs, surpassing Royal Challengers Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis (730), before he reached his IPL best and the top score of this season.
The winner of the match, which started late after a heavy spell of rain, will meet M.S. Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings in the final on Sunday at the same venue.
Opener Gill, who is tipped as the future of Indian batting, made the most of a reprieve on 30 when Tim David dropped him off Chris Jordan.
Gill brought up his fifty in 32 balls and then exploded to smash sixes and reach his hundred in 49 balls, taking a bow amid a standing ovation.
He finally fell to Akash Madhwal and Sudharsan retired out before skipper Hardik Pandya, who made an unbeaten 13-ball 28, and Rashid Khan finished the innings on a high with 19 runs in the final over.
Table-toppers Gujarat, who had a fairytale debut season last year when they won the title in front of their home crowd, have got a second shot at making the final after they lost the first playoff to Chennai.
Y. Rousseau--BTZ
