Gujarat Titans (GT) became the first side in Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 to secure a place in the Playoffs. The defending champions beat Sunrisers Hyderabad at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday to get to 18 points and ensure not only a Playoff berth but are even guaranteed of a top-two finish.
The fixture witnessed several incredible individual performances from both the sides. While GT opener Shubman Gill was one of the stars with the bat as he scored a sensational hundred, SRH pacer Bhuvneshwar Kumar then helped the Orange Army pull back things a little bit towards the end with Bhuvi completeing a fifer that saw him give away just two runs in a last over four wickets fell.
In SRH's run chase, however, it was Shami who helped GT get a tight grip on the match with his early dismissals. The right-arm fast bowler scalped three wickets inside the powerplay which saw SRH reeling at 29/4. The experienced fast bowler wasn't done for the day and returned to remove the in-form Henrich Klaasen for 64 in the 17th over. Eventually, SRH could only post 154/9 in their 20 overs.
Shami finished with figures of 4 for 21 and also regained the Purple with 23 wickets to his credit from 13 matches. His teammate Rashid Khan is number 2 on this list who has the same number of wickets but boasts of a better economy rate because of which Shami was given the Purple Cap.
After the match when commentator Ravi Shastri told the pacer to reveal the secret of his success and how he is looking stronger, the 32-year-old gave a hilarious response. "I'm in Gujarat, I won't get the food I like," he said before adding: "Lekin Gujrati food enjoy kar raha huu." (However, I'm enjoying Gujrati cuisine).
He also heaped teammate Mohit Sharma who was in great form on Monday, finishing with figures of 4/28 from his 4 overs.
"I was focusing on my strengths and trying to keep it tight. I always try to bowl in good areas. Just like the game against Delhi, the ball was moving off the deck. It’s very good to have a pacer like Mohit Sharma in the middle overs who uses the variations smartly," Shami said.
As a result of GT's win, SRH were eliminated from the race to the Playoffs. They became the second team to get eliminated after DC.