Sai Sudharsan and Gill help clinical GT book playoffs berth
Sai Sudharsan finished on 108 not out off 61 balls and Gill on 93 not out off 53 as they overhauled DC's 199 for 3 with an over to spare
Sai Sudharsan finished on 108 not out off 61 balls and Gill on 93 not out off 53 as they overhauled DC's 199 for 3 with an over to spare
Scorer: Ranjith P | Commentator: Ekanth
First double-header since the restart has confirmed three of the teams in the playoffs. LSG, which is one of the teams looking to break through, are facing SRH tomorrow. See you for that. Thanks for tuning in today. I'm Ekanth, signing off on behalf of Himanshu Agrawal, and our scorers, Ranjith P and Thilak Rama.
App users, please check out the fan ratings page, where you share your evaluation of player performances from the game.
Sai Sudharsan, POTM and orange cap holder: There's a bit of joy when you finish games. During the break, I was thinking of that more and it paid off. After six overs, they bowled well (7 to 10). But we took the game deep, were cool enough mentally and got 2-3 big overs after 12 which worked out. Had taken risks in earlier games which hadn't worked out. I've also started to believe myself more to take the game deeper, expand my game. Not much has changed with my batting, but mentally I'm more free and expressive. Maybe I can get better at striking against spin and improving my batting after the 15th over. (On partnership with Gill) There's a lot of understanding. We complement each other especially when the other batter is doing well, running is a vital thing too.
Shubman Gill, GT captain: Feels great to get the Q, but still two important games left. Carrying momentum is important. I've talked about being a batter, think as one without worrying about captaincy. Found it challenging last year, learnt how to manage it late in the season. Our fielding had been below par, we'd dropped a lot of catches, we reflected on that and worked on it during the break. When you're in form, someone like Sai who's converting starts, you don't talk much. You just talk about what's required. When in flow, you just need to make sure you don't get carried away. We wanted to finish the game ourselves. At halfway point, we thought we gave 10-15 extra, there was grip for spinners. They batted well. But when we went out to bat, we just wanted to play good cricketing shots. (Seven sixes tonight, been hitting the gym?) Not really. I'd gotten sick, the break helped me recover.
DC's players are taking a lap around the ground. This is their last home game of the season.
Sundar: "If Sai Sudharsan doesn't get to board the flight to England, never mind the format, the selectors will have some explaining to do."
RCB, GT, PBKS have all qualified to the playoffs btw
Parthiv Patel: We've batted and played really well throughout, going into the playoffs is a reward for how well we've done. Openers play low-risk cricket, still they have the ability to hit down the ground and find boundaries. The fours they hit during the game especially. They know their game, they put a lot of work in strengthening their basics which shows. They communicate well, last year they batted brilliantly. Opening pair is about chemistry and knowing each other's games well which they do. (Will Ashish Nehra get a chair in the playoffs) No chance. He's been fantastic and is the reason why we're right up there.
Axar Patel, DC captain: The way they batted was excellent. The wicket also got better as the game went on. We felt we had a par score. Got a good finish, KL batted well. Our bowlers tried well but didn't get the win. The way we batted was a positive given the last couple of games. Fielding and bowling in the powerplay needs to improve. Ball came on nicely in the second innings. It didn't stick in the pitch like it did in the first innings. They didn't lose wickets which made it easy as well.
10:05pm: Same old story in the best possible way for GT. They are top-heavy but they can pull any weight with the way they're going. Gill and Sudharsan's batting was as risk-free as it was conventional and profitable. They found boundaries at will and were hardly troubled regardless of who they were facing. Hard to point to a time where there was any jeopardy in the chase.
Formalities now. Vipraj on
"They may have only had three gears in previous years, both of them have five gears they can shift to," says Tom Moody
"The way I look at this innings, I think it's an outstanding innings," Tom Moody says about KL Rahul's century
Prasidh Krishna has gone one wicket clear of Noor Ahmad at the top of the Purple Cap table
Rahul also completed 8000 runs in T20 cricket and became the first batter to score hundreds for three different IPL teams
Mustafizur replaced Starc at DC after having played for Bangladesh in Sharjah on Saturday