GT vs MI, IPL 2023 Qualifier 2 Highlights: Gill century, Mohit 5-fer lead Titans to 2nd consecutive final

Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Chris Jordan, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Ramandeep Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Kumar Kartikeya, Riley Meredith, Shams Mulani, Arjun Tendulkar, Duan Jansen, Arshad Khan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Raghav Goyal

Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Dasun Shanaka, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Sai Sudharsan, Srikar Bharat, Jayant Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Joshua Little, Pradeep Sangwan, Matthew Wade, Abhinav Manohar, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Urvil Patel, Yash Dayal

GT pretty much did an UNO reverse on MI in the second match between them in the league stage this year. This time, the Titans batted first and scored 207/6. It was more of a team effort from GT, unlike what was the case with MI, with their highest scorer being Shubman Gill with 56 from 34 balls. In reply, MI were limited to a score of 152/9.

MI batted first in that match at the Wankhede Stadium and ended up scoring a mammoth 218/5, courtesy of an unbeaten 49-ball 103 from SKY. Rashid Khan took a four-wicket haul in that innings extraordinarily. GT looked on course to a rather humiliating loss when they lost 4 wickets in 6.1 overs and they were 55/5 in the 8th. There was a brief respite as Miller and Tewatia put up a 45-run stand for the sixth wicket but they then went from 100/5 in the 12th over to 103/8 in the 14th. Hence it might sound slightly difficult to believe that they finished on 191/8 in 20 overs and that is thanks to Rashid once again. The spinner, who is firmly establishing himself as a dangerous lower order bat, blasted 79 runs in 32 balls and remained unbeaten on that. He and Alzarri Joseph put up an unbeaten 88-run stand off just 40 balls for the ninth wicket and Rashid scored 77 runs in that, off just 28 balls. MI won the match, SKY won player of the match, but the streets won't forget Rashid's performance. 

Not many batters have a good record against Rashid Khan but Suryakumar Yadav has that in spades. The fiery MI batter has scored 67 runs in 47 balls against the ace Afghanistan spinner without ever being dismissed in the IPL.

“He (Akash Madhwal) was part of the team last year as a support bowler, and once Jofra was gone, I knew he had skills and the character to do the job for us. Over the years we have seen many guys coming in from Mumbai Indians and playing for India. It is important to make them (youngsters) feel special and make them feel part of the team, my job is to just make them comfortable in the middle. They are very clear in their roles about what they need to do for the team and that's what you want”

The fast bowler has been performing consistently for MI all season long and all of it seemed to come together in the way he annihilated the LSG batting lineup during the first Eliminator. His figures of 5/5 put him the same category as the likes of Anil Kumble for best ever figures in an IPL match. In MI's last match against GT, Madhwal had taken 3 wickets. 

Shubman Gill came into the IPL this season on the back of some breakthrough performances across formats in international cricket. Right from the first game, he made it clear that he is going to have no problems transferring that form to the IPL. He now sits at 722 runs, which is the second most runs any Indian has scored in an IPL season, only behind Virat Kohli's frankly ridiculous record of 973 runs in IPL 2016.

Gujarat Titans were utterly dominant last season in the IPL despite it being only their first year. They finished top of the table and reached the final after winning the first qualifier. Then they beat Rajasthan Royals in the final comprehensively to win the title in their first season itself. This year, they showed that last year was no fluke. They have arguably looked the most balanced team with their bowling being potent in all periods of an opposition innings and all their batters firing whenever needed. But this seamless journey had its first major bump in the first qualifier, where GT were comprehensively outplayed by CSK. In their short life, it has been rare to see Hardik Pandya's side to be as far behind in a game as they were against CSK at the Chepauk. Now they have shifted to their own home base but they face the only team to have won the title more times than CSK have. It will be interesting to see how they react here.

David Miller's season has not been as extraordinary as it was last year but he remains a potent weapon for GT in their middle order. He has only scored one half century against MI. On the other hand, he strikes at over 140 against them and averages of 40.

This is the third time these two sides are meeting this season, with MI winning the first fixture and GT winning the second. That was also GT's first-ever win against MI, having lost to them last season as well. Overall, MI lead the head to head 2-1. 

Both sides have faced each other thrice in IPL history with MI leading 2-1.

After GT's loss to CSK in Qualifier 1, Hardik said, "I don't think we need to look much into it. We have to play two days later, we have to play one more game to make sure we reach the final. Just focus on the things that we've done really well this season. It would be a really good sight to meet him on Sunday if we can win the next game."

GT: Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Dasun Shanaka, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Darshan Nalkande, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Mohit Sharma, Sai Sudharsan, Srikar Bharat, Jayant Yadav, Shivam Mavi, Joshua Little, Pradeep Sangwan, Matthew Wade, Abhinav Manohar, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Urvil Patel, Yash Dayal

MI: Ishan Kishan(w), Rohit Sharma(c), Cameron Green, Suryakumar Yadav, Tilak Varma, Tim David, Chris Jordan, Hrithik Shokeen, Piyush Chawla, Akash Madhwal, Jason Behrendorff, Nehal Wadhera, Vishnu Vinod, Ramandeep Singh, Sandeep Warrier, Kumar Kartikeya, Riley Meredith, Shams Mulani, Arjun Tendulkar, Duan Jansen, Arshad Khan, Tristan Stubbs, Dewald Brevis, Raghav Goyal

Hello and good afternoon everyone! Welcome to our live coverage of today's IPL 2023 Qualifier 2 between GT and MI, straight from Ahmedabad. Stay tuned folks!