Gill shines as Titans advance to play-offs

India opener Shubman Gill hit his maiden IPL century to help holders Gujarat Titans secure their play-off berth with a thumping 34-run win over Sunrisers Hyderabad yesterday.Gill, who smashed 101 off 58 balls, put on a 147-run stand with Sai Sudarshan, who made 47, to guide table-toppers Gujarat to 188-9 in Ahmedabad.Mohamed Shami and Mohit Sharma both took four wickets to limit Hyderabad to 154-9 as Gujarat became the first team to secure one of the four play-off spots.Gujarat, who had a fairytale debut season when they won the title last year, are also assured of a top-two finish in the group phase.Hyderabad, the 2016 champions, fell out of the play-off race, making it seven teams fighting for three remaining play-off places.Gujarat lost Wriddhiman Saha, for a duck, on the third ball of the match but Gill hit Fazalhaq Farooqi for four straight boundaries to set the pace.Gill, who jumped to second in the batting charts with 576 runs behind Bangalore skipper Faf du Plessis (631), smashed 13 fours and a six and Sudarshan was also punishing in his 36-ball stay.Hyderabad hit back with wickets and despite Gill’s century in 56 balls, Gujarat managed just 34 runs in the last five overs and lost seven wickets.Gill, the Player of the Match, said yesterday: "My IPL debut was against SRH, now I’ve my IPL hundred against them. Quite pleased. It’s come a full circle. Hopefully I’ll get more hundreds this season. I’m not the kind of person who dwells too much about my last innings. The focus is on what’s need at the moment. The most satisfying moment was to hit Abhishek for a six because he is my childhood friend.”Bowlers did well to check Gujarat’s total, which looked like going over 200, as seam bowler Bhuvneshwar Kumar returned figures of 5-30 but the efforts were vain. Hyderabad were never in the chase after they fell to 12-3 with Shami taking two and further slipped to 59-7. South Africa’s Heinrich Klaasen then smashed 64 and put on 68 runs with Kumar, who made 27, but Titans still won with ease.BRIEF SCORESGujarat Titans 188 for 9 (Gill 101, Sudharsan 47, Bhuvneshwar 5-30) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 154 for 9 (Klaasen 64, Shami 4-21, Mohit 4-28) by 34 runs