Advertisement

Gill stars and Rabada helps Gujarat down Rajasthan to reach IPL final

cricket29 May 2026 18:32| © MWP
By:Ross Roche
Share
article image

Shubman Gill struck a sparkling century, while Kagiso Rabada picked up the prized scalp of rising young superstar Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, as the Gujarat Titans clinched a comfortable seven-wicket win over the Rajasthan Royals in their Tata IPL final qualifier at the Maharaja Yadavindra Singh International Cricket Stadium in New Chandigarh on Friday night.

The win sees Gujarat move into Sunday’s final to face the Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who beat them in the first qualifier earlier this week.

Advertisement

In the match, Rajasthan put up a good fight, with Sooryavanshi starring again, as he slammed eight fours and seven sixes in his 96 off 47 balls, while Ravindra Jadeja battled through injury to score an unbeaten 45 off 35 (5x4; 1x6).

But they needed a late blitz from Donovan Ferreira, as he crunched an unbeaten 38 off just 11 balls, which included him hammering four sixes in the last over from Rashid Khan as it went for 27, to boost them to a competitive 214 for six batting first.

Jason Holder was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2-27 in his four overs, but purple cap holder Rabada picked up the important wicket of Sooryavanshi in his last over as he finished with 2-35.

Gujarat, however, responded in style, with a brutal 167-run opening stand between Gill, who cracked 104 off 53 balls (15x4; 3x6), and Sai Sudharsan, 58 off 32 (8x4; 1x6), that set them up for what proved to be an easy win as they cruised over the line in the penultimate over.

At the start of play, Rajasthan won the toss and chose to bat, but got off to a disastrous start as they slipped to 9-2 in the second over.

Mohammed Siraj picked up the massive wicket of star opener Yashasvi Jaiswal (1), while Rabada had Dhruv Jurel (7) caught by Gill at mid-off.

Sooryavanshi and Jadeja then fought back by taking them to 82 for two after eight overs, when Jadeja walked off with what looked like a shoulder injury.

While he was off, Riyan Parag (11) and Dasun Shanaka (3) were removed by Holder, while Jofra Archer (7) was pushed up the order as a pinch hitter but hit just one six before Prasidh Krishna had him caught behind, as they slipped to 118 for five.

Jadeja then came back in and concluded a 125-run partnership with Sooryavanshi before Ferreira’s late fireworks.

The Gujarat chase was built completely around the opening stand between Gill and Sudharsan, as they proved you can chase a big score without hitting too many sixes, as they shared 23 fours and four maximums between them.

Sudharsan, for the second match in a row, got himself out in comical fashion by hitting his own wicket and was soon followed back to the dugout by Gill, who was trapped LBW by Archer.

But Jos Buttler (9no), Washington Sundary, 16 off nine (2x4; 1x6), and Rahul Tewatia, 17no off nine (2x4; 1x6), eased them home comfortably.

GUJARAT TITANS: Shubman Gill (capt), Sai Sudharsan, Jos Buttler (wk), Jason Holder, Washington Sundar, Nishant Sindhu, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Kagiso Rabada, Prasidh Krishna, Mohammed Siraj

RAJASTHAN ROYALS: Yashasvi Jaiswal, Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, Dhruv Jurel (wk), Riyan Parag (capt), Donovan Ferreira, Dasun Shanaka, Ravindra Jadeja, Jofra Archer, Nandre Burger, Brijesh Sharma, Yashraj Punja

Advertisement