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Shubman Gill continued his glorious form in ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) as he scored his third century of the season. The Gujarat Titans (GT) opener went on a rampage against Mumbai Indians (MI) bowlers at Narendra Modi Cricket Stadium to reach his century from just 49 balls.
During his explosive knock, Gill also became the leading run-scorer of the tournament surpassing Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) captain Faf du Plessis. The 23-year-old is the second batter after Australia's Michael Klinger to score three centuries in four T20 games. He became the fourth batter in history of IPL to score 800 or more runs.
Gill snatches Orange Cap
He is set to win the Orange Cap for the first time as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) Devon Conway is the only batter in top five from teams that are still in race for the title. Conway has scored 625 runs from 14 innings at an average of 52.08 including six half-centuries. With 851 runs in IPL 2023, Gill now has the third-highest tally of runs in a single season. He is behind Virat Kohli (973 runs) and Rajasthan Royals' (RR) Jos Buttler (863 runs).
Gill is now only behind Kohli and Buttler on the list of most centuries in a single IPL season. Kohli and Buttler scored four centuries in IPL 2016 and IPL 2022 respectively.
Expensive dropped catch
The GT opener got a reprieve early in the innings when Tim David dropped a half-chance at mid-on off Chris Jordan's bowling in the sixth over. He survived a run out chance against Kumar Kartikeya in the eighth over. Gill reached his half-century from 32 deliveries in the 10th over. He took 17 more deliveries to reach his century in the 15th over.
Gill went on to score 129 runs from 60 deliveries. He lost his wicket in the 17th over as David took a catch in the deep off Akash Madhwal's bowling in the 17th over. His 129-run knock was studded with seven fours and 10 sixes.
What Gill said after the innings
“I went to the washroom and did not know I would be wearing this (on the Orange cap). Got a good total, hopefully we will defend this. A lot, sweat went into my eyes and I was not able to open them. We have played our best cricket when we have lost and this is one of those days. Definitely it plays a part, you have to know which side to target, if it's bigger boundaries and they bowl in good areas, look for doubles, smaller boundaries look to take it on. The new ball held up a bit, there was not much grass on that wicket, the ball was coming on nicely and with the outfield wet it stopped swinging after 2 overs. I wish this was possible - I will carry it everywhere (on this Ahmedabad track),” Gill told the broadcasters after GT posted 233/3.
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