Gill ton trumps Kohli’s 101 as Bangalore knocked out

Shubman Gill hit an unbeaten 104 to trump Virat Kohli’s record century as holders Gujarat Titans knocked Royal Challengers Bangalore out of the IPL with a six-wicket victory on Sunday.The result allowed five-time winners Mumbai Indians to fill the fourth play-off spot after they hammered Sunrisers Hyderabad by eight wickets in the first match of the day.Gill starred in the final group match with a 52-ball knock that steered Gujarat to victory with five balls to spare.Gill hit the winning six to raise his second straight ton and the event’s third of the day after Cameron Green’s match-winning 100 for Mumbai and then Kohli’s 101 not out.Gill, the Player of the Match, said yesterday: "It’s all about getting a start and converting it into a big one. Thankfully it’s working out for me in the business end. You have to keep applying yourself, that’s important. The new ball was holding on a bit. The ball was getting wet with the dew. I thought Vijay Shankar was trying to go too hard. Once he found the momentum, he hit it a long way. I know my game... for any player it’s important to know who you are. I think we have a great bowling attack for that (Chennai) wicket.”Kohli hit his second successive hundred and seventh in the IPL to overtake Chris Gayle’s six and steer Bangalore to 197-5 in a match that started an hour late due to rain in Bengaluru.The effort was in vain as Kohli’s wait for an elusive IPL title goes on for another year.Mumbai will play Lucknow Super Giants, who became the third team to make the play-offs on Saturday, in the eliminator next week.Table-toppers Gujarat and second-placed Chennai Super Kings will clash in the first qualifier tomorrow.The winner of Qualifier 1 will head straight to the final in Ahmedabad on May 28 and the loser will play the winner of the eliminator.Kohli started strongly in a 67-run opening partnership with skipper Faf du Plessis, who made 28 to stay on top of the batting chart with 730 runs.Kohli, who made a match-winning 100 in Bangalore’s previous game, had moved behind Du Plessis in the batting list with 639 runs but Gill toppled the senior star to take second spot with 674 runs.In the first match, Green starred for Mumbai with his first ever T20 century as he hit a 47-ball unbeaten 100 to drive his team home with two overs to spare.Green, a big buy for Mumbai for $2.11mn in the auction, stood out with eight fours and eight sixes.Green said on Sunday: "Great stand with Rohit, he’s experienced. Having his leadership at the other end helped. The setup has been great, I’ve been well looked after. No pressure despite the price tag. The intent at the top is important, with Ishan and Rohit above and SKY below me. Pollard has helped with range hitting too. When we had 20 to get, I told SKY to finish it. But with two runs to go, we just trickled over the line.”After Rohit Sharma’s departure, Green kept up the charge and put on an unbeaten partnership with Suryakumar Yadav, who hit 25, to register their eighth win in 14 group matches.Medium-pace bowler Akash Madhwal set up victory with figures of 4-37 to check Hyderabad to 200-5, a total that looked to go bigger but for some disciplined bowling.Hyderabad, led by Aiden Markram, took the wooden spoon in the 10-team table.BRIEF SCORESGujarat Titans 198 for 4 (Gill 104*, Shankar 53, Siraj 2-23) beat Royal Challengers Bangalore 197 for 5 (Kohli 101*, Noor 2-39) by six wicketsBRIEF SCORESMumbai Indians 201 for 2 in 18 overs (Green 100*, Rohit 56) beat Sunrisers Hyderabad 200 for 5 in 20 overs (Agarwal 83, Vivrant 69, Madhwal 4-37) by eight wickets