The final day of IPL 2023's league phase saw plenty of drama as Mumbai Indians managed to grab the final playoff berth, joining Gujarat Titans, Chennai Super Kings and Lucknow Super Giants. Sunday began with MI defeating Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai, which saw them climb to fourth position, sending Royal Challengers Bangalore to fifth place. To topple MI from the final playoff berth, RCB needed to defeat GT in the league's final fixture, but a defeat meant they finished in sixth place.
Chasing a target of 201 runs, MI raced to 201/2 in 18 overs, courtesy of an unbeaten knock of 100 runs off 47 balls by Cameron Green. Meanwhile, captain Rohit Sharma bagged a key half-century, smacking 56 off 37 deliveries. For SRH's bowling department, Bhuvneshwar Kumar and Mayank Dagar took a wicket each. Initially, SRH posted 200/5 in 20 overs, courtesy of some fine batting from Mayank Agarwal and Vivrant Sharma. Mayank hammered 83 runs off 46 balls and Vivrant slammed 69 off 47 deliveries. Akash Madhwal was in hot bowling form for MI and took four wickets.
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MI's victory and the weather in Bengaluru sent RCB fans into a state of meltdown. But soon the rain stopped and the match began with opener Virat Kohli clobbering a vintage unbeaten century. Kohli whacked an unbeaten knock of 101 runs off 61 balls as RCB posted 197/5 in 20 overs, setting a target of 198 runs. Noor Ahmad was in good form for GT and scalped two dismissals. Chasing a target of 198 runs, Gujarat had their very own centurion as Shubman Gill slammed 104* runs off 52 deliveries to take GT to 198/4 in 19.1 overs, winning by six wickets. For RCB's bowling department, Mohammed Siraj took two wickets.
{{/usCountry}}MI's victory and the weather in Bengaluru sent RCB fans into a state of meltdown. But soon the rain stopped and the match began with opener Virat Kohli clobbering a vintage unbeaten century. Kohli whacked an unbeaten knock of 101 runs off 61 balls as RCB posted 197/5 in 20 overs, setting a target of 198 runs. Noor Ahmad was in good form for GT and scalped two dismissals. Chasing a target of 198 runs, Gujarat had their very own centurion as Shubman Gill slammed 104* runs off 52 deliveries to take GT to 198/4 in 19.1 overs, winning by six wickets. For RCB's bowling department, Mohammed Siraj took two wickets.
{{/usCountry}}After GT's win, the Hardik Pandya-led side end the league phase as table-toppers with 20 points in 14 matches, followed by CSK (17 points) in second position. LSG (17) are third, MI (16) are fifth, RR (14) are fifth and RCB (14) are in sixth position. KKR (12) end the season in seventh position, followed by Punjab Kings (12), Delhi Capitals (10) and SRH (8) in the bottom of the table.
Here's the entire IPL 2022 Playoffs schedule:
QUALIFIER 1: Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings - May 23, Tuesday - 7:30 PM IST, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
ELIMINATOR: Lucknow Super Giants vs Mumbai Indians - May 24, Wednesday - 7:30 PM IST, MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai
QUALIFIER 2: Loser of Qualifier 1 vs winner of Eliminator - May 26, Friday - 7:30 PM IST, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
FINAL: Winner of Qualifier 1 vs Winner of Qualifier 2 - May 28, Sunday - 7:30 PM IST, Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad