Riyan Parag’s attempt to call the toss went unheard by match referee Prakash Bhatt, forcing Shubman Gill to redo the coin toss. Parag repeated his shout for “Heads” with confidence the second time, the result came out in their favour, and he immediately chose to bat. Gill, though clearly disappointed, suggested he would have made the same decision if the referee had properly picked up the first call. Gujarat Titans, meanwhile, were happy the early advantage ended up swinging their way. Vaibhav Sooryavanshi delivered another lively innings in the 90s—his third such contribution in four outings—before being dismissed. Set on a Mullanpur wicket that wasn’t particularly friendly to batters in the first innings, Rajasthan Royals still managed 214 for 6 in the Qualifier 2. Yet the chase became easier as the game moved along, and Gill and Sai Sudharsan stitched together a 167-run stand. Gill struck his fifth IPL century, and GT finished the job with eight balls remaining, marking their first successful chase of 210-plus in IPL history. They also chased down the highest target in the playoffs stage, earning a date in the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.
Match in phases
Brief scores: Rajasthan Royals 214/6 (20 overs) — Vaibhav Sooryavanshi 96 (47), Ravindra Jadeja 45* (35); Jason Holder 2/27. Gujarat Titans 219/3 (18.4 overs) — Shubman Gill 104 (53), Sai Sudharsan 58 (32); Nandre Burger 1/35. Gujarat Titans won by 7 wickets.
Gujarat’s approach against the Royals’ top order was straightforward: keep it short and probe for mistakes. Yashasvi Jaiswal tried to go for a pull off Mohammed Siraj, but the shot didn’t quite come off and he mis-hit it. Dhruv Jurel, after finding a four off Kagiso Rabada, went for a drive when the delivery wasn’t full enough, resulting in a leading edge. By the end of the second over, Sooryavanshi had faced just three balls, with GT clearly dictating the early tempo. That restraint didn’t last. Sooryavanshi quickly shifted gears, opening his counterattack with three fours in a 21-run over from Siraj, then following it up with a four and a straight six off Rabada. Promoted to number four, Ravindra Jadeja added boundaries as well, helping Rajasthan race to 50 in just 4.3 overs. Siraj, however, was struggling with a shoulder issue and was forced to leave the field after the fifth over, shortly after conceding another boundary to Sooryavanshi. Prasidh Krishna also bowled short and was punished—Jadeja struck a six and two fours off him.
Sooryavanshi and his different batting partners
Jadeja accelerated to 34 off 19, moving ahead of Sooryavanshi’s pace, before retiring hurt with an elbow problem ahead of the ninth over. Still, Sooryavanshi and Riyan Parag kept the momentum going, landing a couple of sixes in the opening over of Rashid Khan as Rajasthan brought up the 100 in the ninth. Parag fell to Jason Holder while attempting to keep the pressure on, gifting a catch to deep midwicket. The very next over, a major chance went begging when Sai Sudharsan came in late and dropped a top edge from Sooryavanshi, denying Prasidh the wicket. Holder, meanwhile, maintained control and also removed Dasun Shanaka with a short ball. Jofra Archer arrived next, struck a six off Prasidh, and was dismissed soon after as GT continued to peg RR back. Sooryavanshi, batting with a seventh partner for the first time in his IPL innings record—having previously come together with only four others—reached his slowest fifty, coming off 31 balls. Jadeja returned to continue the partnership. Sooryavanshi then launched a six over wide long-on in a Rabada over, but later got hit on the side of his helmet grille while trying to pull.
Sooryavanshi’s 90s show, Ferreira’s finishing touch
After the helmet impact, Sooryavanshi wasted little time finding rhythm again. Even though Gujarat kept firing in short deliveries, he pulled Siraj for a six and added two fours and another six off Holder to push Rajasthan past 150 in the 16th over. Washington Sundar followed with two more sixes and helped stitch another fifty-run stand with Jadeja. Still, a three-figure score kept slipping away for Sooryavanshi—he fell four runs short. This time, an attempted upper cut off Rabada didn’t deliver the result he wanted, leaving him short of a century for the second consecutive match. Rajasthan’s late surge, however, was secured by Donovan Ferreira. After two fours off Prasidh in the 19th over, Ferreira attacked Rashid in the final over, striking four sixes to drive RR beyond the 210 mark, setting a total that looked substantial on a pitch that had been demanding for batters.
Gill and Sudharsan power GT’s fiery start
Gujarat’s chase had a familiar feel at the start. It’s not often that GT fail to begin well, and the earlier loss to RCB had been an exception rather than a trend. The opening over saw Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill each strike two fours off Archer, and the boundaries didn’t slow down. GT raced to 52 in four overs—matching their joint-fastest team fifty in the league history. Sudharsan also benefited from a stroke of luck at 14 when he went for a pull off Nandre Burger; Ferreira was unable to hold the catch. Brijesh Sharma contributed a seven-run over, and Tushar Deshpande—brought in as the impact player—was punished in the sixth over when Sudharsan struck two fours, as the Titans finished just one run short of the Royals’ score at the same point in the powerplay.
Gill, Sudharsan, and the familiar GT script
Even after the field spread, the pair kept finding scoring options. Gill and Sudharsan continued piling on boundaries to extend their partnership. Gill reached a fifty off 30 balls, aided by a six and a four off Deshpande in the ninth over, and by then he and Sudharsan had already assembled their eighth century stand in the IPL. Jadeja was also targeted—Gill struck two sixes and a four to propel GT to 127 for 0 at the halfway stage, which was 24 runs more than what Rajasthan had made at that same point. Sudharsan then moved to a fifty off 26 deliveries, helped by a six off Yash Raj Punja. Gill completed the over with two fours, and both batters also crossed the 700-run mark in the season. GT passed 150 in the 12th over, with Gill moving into the 90s after two fours off Burger.
Another hit-wicket for Sudharsan!
Sudharsan’s dismissal came in the second time in as many games he had been out hit-wicket, ending a huge partnership that had brought GT closer to sealing their place in the final. The ball was a low full toss from Brijesh, and Sudharsan cut it to the boundary. But in the follow-through, he lost grip of the bat again, and this time it thudded onto the stumps. It was the third hit-wicket dismissal of his IPL career, which left him tied for the most in the format alongside Andre Russell and Shoaib Malik in T20 cricket. For GT, though, the chase was still well under control, with 48 required from 43 deliveries.
Gill falls after ton, GT seal date with RCB
Gill’s hundred came at the right time for Gujarat. In the 14th over, he stepped out and worked it inside out over cover for a four off Jadeja, racing to the fastest T20 century for GT in 47 balls—surpassing his own 49-ball century against MI in the 2023 Qualifier 2. He also became the first player to register multiple hundreds in IPL playoffs, and the first captain to reach three figures in the playoffs. Gill eventually departed to Archer, trapped leg-before, with GT still needing 33 off 30. Sundar then struck a boundary and a six off Archer, before being removed by Burger, leaving GT with 14 required from 17. Rahul Tewatia finished the chase, remaining unbeaten on 17 off 9 balls, smashing two fours and a six off Brijesh in the 19th over to seal the win.
What next for the teams?
Gujarat Titans will head to the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad for the final against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, while Rajasthan Royals’ campaign ends after Qualifier 2—marking the third time they have lost at this stage.
