Gujarat Titans and Punjab Kings, whose victory march was halted by the break in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025, restarted their respective campaigns on a winning note, clinching their places in the playoffs with contrasting wins on Sunday.
Gujarat Titans rode on an unbeaten 205-run partnership between Sai Sudharsan (108) and Shubman Gill (93) to thrash Delhi Capitals by 10 wickets while Punjab Kings registered a 10-run win over Rajasthan Royals in the first doubleheader after restart.
In the match played at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in New Delhi, Delhi Capitals rode on a brilliant unbeaten 112 off 65 balls, laced with 14 fours and four sixes, to post a challenging 199/3 as they battled it out in their hope to maintain their chances of reaching the playoffs. But Sudharsan and Gill made the chase a stroll in the park as they chased down the target in 19 overs with a sensational unbeaten partnership.
Sudharsan finished on 108 not out off 61 balls – his second IPL century laced with 12 fours and four sixes. Gill was unbeaten on 93 off 53 balls – hitting three fours and seven sixes as Gujarat Titans reached 205 for not loss to secure their ninth match in 12 matches.
The victory took Gujarat Titans to the top of the points table with 18 points, with Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings on 17 points each. Delhi remained in the fifth position with 13 points from 12 matches and was in contention for the fourth playoff spot with Mumbai Indians (14) and Lucknow Super Giants (10 points from 11 games).
Feels great to get the Q (qualification mark), but still two important games left. Carrying momentum is important. I've talked about being a batter, think as one without worrying about captaincy. Found it challenging last year, learnt how to manage it late in the season. Our fielding had been below par, we'd dropped a lot of catches, and we reflected on that and worked on it during the break.
It was clearly Sai Sudharsan's match as he continued from where he left off before the break, taking over the Orange Cap with another brilliant performance. He took his tally to 617 runs from 12 innings with one century and five fifties. Gill was close behind on 601 runs with six half-centuries.
Player of the Match Sudharsan, who came in as an Impact Substitute in place of Prasidh Krishna and guided the team to a dominant victory, credited his understanding with Gill for the success of their partnership.
"There's a bit of joy when you finish games. During the break, I was thinking of that more, and it paid off. After six overs, they bowled well (7 to 10). But we took the game deep, were cool enough mentally and got 2-3 big overs after 12, which worked out. Had taken risks in earlier games that hadn't worked out. I've also started to believe in myself more to take the game deeper, expand my game. Not much has changed with my batting, but mentally, I'm more free and expressive. Maybe I can get better at striking against spin and improving my batting after the 15th over," he said.
Brief Scores: Delhi Capitals 199/3 in 20 overs (KL Rahul 112 not out, Abishek Porel 30; Arshad Khan 1-7, Prasidh Krishna 1-40) lost to Gujarat Titans 205/0 in 19 overs (B Sai Sudharsan 108 not out, Shubman Gill 93 not out) by ten wickets.
PBKS on a high
In the earlier match of the day in Jaipur, Punjab lost early wickets after electing to bat, with the in-form openers Priyansh Arya, Prabhsimran Singh, and Aussie batter Mitchell Owen getting out. But Nehal Wadhera (70 runs off 37 balls) stitched crucial partnerships with skipper Shreyas Iyer (30 runs off 25 balls), Shashank Singh (59* runs off 30 balls) to help his side post a solid total of 219/5 in 20 overs. Azmatullah also added 21* off 9 balls in the end to further help his side.
In the chase, Rajasthan started well with Yashasvi Jaiswal (50 runs off 25 balls) and Vaibhav Suryavanshi (40 runs off 15 balls), adding 76 runs together for the opening wicket. But Punjab left-arm spinner Harpreet Brar (3-22 in 4 overs) dismissed both the batters and restricted the opposition. Despite a fighting knock from Dhruv Jurel (53 runs off 31 balls), the Royals fell short by 10 runs and Punjab Kings won the game.
I think he has been very consistent. Last year, he also bowled really well. Whenever he has received the opportunity, he has performed. And today as well, he made a big difference for Punjab Kings. Our plan was to get Brar and take wickets when the opposition was forming a partnership, and he did that.
"I think it's a team effort. Lot of team strategies go behind the scenes. Whenever a partnership happens, all we have to do is bowl dot balls and get wickets. That's the strategy we opted and it worked for us," he further added.
Joshi also praised Shreyas Iyer for his captaincy and his rotation with the ball and credited him for making smart moves to help the side. "Shreyas is a positive leader and a street-smart cricketer. He knows when you need to make subtle changes. He is experienced and a title-winning captain. He knows the domestic circuit well. He has always enjoyed players' confidence. Talking to players makes a bigger impact on players and the leader," he said.
Punjab Kings will next face off against Delhi Capitals at the same stadium on Saturday (May 24).
Brief Scores: Punjab Kings 219/5 in 20 overs (Nehal Wadhera 70, Shashank Singh 59 not out; Tushar Deshpande 2-37) beat Rajasthan Royals 209/7 in 20 overs (Yashasvi Jaiswal 50, Dhruv Jurel 53, Vaibhav Suryavanshi 40; Harpreet Brar 3-22) by 10 runs.