CHRIS DHAMBARAGE
COLOMBO – Sri Lanka’s Dasun Shanaka made his Indian Premier League (IPL) debut as the defending champions Gujarat Titans defeated Sunrisers Hyderabad (SRH) by 34 runs in the 62nd match of the tournament played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday.
Shanaka, who came in as a replacement for the injured Kane Williamson, came into bat in the 18th over at number seven and was unbeaten on nine runs from seven deliveries as Gujarat amassed a formidable 188 for nine after they were put into bat.
The 31-year-old all-rounder then made his contribution on the field by holding on to a good catch at forward point to dismiss the dangerous Aiden Markram from the bowling of Mohammed Shami in the fifth over.
Shanaka’s services as a bowler of course, was not required for Gujarat as SRH collapsed to 59 for seven in the ninth over before they eventually finished at 154 for nine after their 20 overs.
Shami was in tremendous form as he varied his pace to good effect to have SRH reeling at 45 for four in the Powerplay before Heinrich Klaasen fought a lone battle with a 44-ball 64, which was not enough in the end.
Shami was unstoppable as he picked up wickets at regular intervals and finished with excellent figures of 4-0-21-4 while Mohit Sharma also joined the party with four wickets for 28 from his four overs.
Earlier, Shubman Gill smashed his maiden IPL century to become the first player to reach the staggering milestone for Gujarat in the current season.
The 23-year-old elegant right-hander went past the 500-run mark in IPL 2023 for the first time in his career, and completed 1,000 runs for Gujarat, the only ever player to do so.
SRH drew first blood in the very first over after opting to bowl first but Gujarat put it quickly behind as Gill raced through the powerplay, smashing 36 off just 16 balls which included an array of four consecutive boundaries against Fazalhaq Farooqi.
Together with Sai Sudharsan, who played an anchor role until the halfway mark in the innings, the two stitched a 100-run partnership as Gill scored his fourth fifty-plus knock this season, off just 22 balls.
He eventually completed his ton in 56 balls, becoming the sixth player to reach the three-figure mark in IPL 2023, joining the likes of Suryakumar Yadav, Venkatesh Iyer, Harry Brook, Yashasvi Jaiswal, and Prabhsimran Singh.
Chief scores
Gujarat Titans: 188/9 in 20 overs (Shubman Gill 101, Sai Sudharsan 47, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 5/30)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: 154/9 in 20 overs (Heinrich Klaassen 64, Bhuvneshwar Kumar 27, Mohammed Shami 4/21, Mohit Sharma 4/28).
