Bengaluru, April 24 (IANS) Sai Sudharsan anchored Gujarat Titans’ (GT) innings with an impressive 100 off 58 balls and helped visitors put up a competitive total of 205/3 against Royal Challengers Bengaluru (RCB) in the 34th match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2026 at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on Friday.

Sudharsan started a bit shaky when Bhuvneshwar Kumar got the ball to move away, creating a thick outside edge that went past the short third for four. On the other end, Josh Hazlewood made things tough early on. He hit Sudharsan on the pads and repeatedly beat his outside edge, with Sudharsan often late on his shots. However, as the initial movement faded, Sudharsan began to settle, steering one deliberately past the short third and punching another through the covers to find his rhythm.

The breakthrough came in the fifth over when Sudharsan hit the first six of the innings. After scooping Hazlewood past the keeper for four, he cut the seamer over cover-point for a maximum and followed it up by slicing another boundary behind point, racing to 41 off 27 balls while Shubman Gill had faced just three deliveries. The Gujarat Titans finished the Power-play strongly at 57/0, with Sudharsan in control.

He kept attacking, facing Rasikh Salam with successive boundaries—a pull and a cut—while ensuring the scoring rate stayed above 10 runs per over. Gill contributed with a boundary in the final over of the Power-play, but the focus remained firmly on Sudharsan. Even when Krunal Pandya tried to tighten things briefly with variations in pace and angle, Sudharsan smartly rotated the strike to prevent any slowdown.

The left-hander brought up his half-century in style, reaching 50 off just 33 balls with a scoop for six off Romario Shepherd, followed by a sharp boundary through covers. The over became the most expensive of the innings as Gill joined in with a classic pull. Sudharsan then delivered one of the highlights of the innings by uppercutting Krunal for a six over deep third—an audacious shot—before slog-sweeping another maximum to mark his 2000th IPL run. He became the fastest to reach this milestone in 47 innings, surpassing Chris Gayle (48), with Shaun Marsh (52), Ruturaj Gaikwad (57), and KL Rahul (60) following behind.

Sudharsan kept the momentum going into the middle overs, hitting Suyash Sharma for a six over wide long-off and smashing a straight drive that struck the bowler, briefly stopping play. Suyash returned to dismiss Gill with a googly, caught at long-on. Jos Buttler, in his 500th T20 match, added some energy with 17 off nine balls, including a four and a six.

Hazlewood eventually ended Sudharsan’s excellent innings by forcing a mistimed pull that resulted in a return catch. With Sudharsan out for 100 off 58, Gujarat lost the chance for a late surge, but Washington Sundar provided some quick runs with a six and a four.

Suyash Sharma delivered a tidy four-run 17th over before walking off for medical attention following the earlier blow to his hand, and Bhuvneshwar Kumar followed it up with an equally economical five-run over while dismissing Jos Buttler, who reverse-scooped a low full toss to short third. Drama unfolded ahead of the final over as Rasikh Salam pulled up near the umpire with cramps and had to walk off despite brief treatment, forcing Rajat Patidar to hand the ball to Krunal Pandya to complete the innings.

Holder hammered two maximums and a boundary in the last over to help GT reach 205/3.

For RCB, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Josh Hazlewood, and Suyash Sharma picked up a wicket each.

Brief scores:

Gujarat Titans 205/3 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 100, Shubman Gill 32; Bhuvneshwar Kumar 1-31, Suyash Sharma 1-36) against Royal Challengers Bengaluru.

–IANS

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