How Titans roared into playoffs with win over 'out-of-reckoning' Sunrisers

It was a game that resembled Test cricket as Gujarat Titans dominated Sunrisers Hyderabad here on MondaySubhman Gillrsquos maiden IPL century scored with copybook Test match strokes put Titans on the road to another 200plus score but Bhuvneshwar Kumarrsquos five wickets restricted them to 188Then came the Powerplay tormentor of teams this seasonmdashMohammed Shami 421 He turned on his deadly lengths more suited for Test cricket to derail the Sunrisers who lost seven wickets for 59 runs in the ninth overGujarat Titans pacers Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma during their game against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Ahmedabad on Monday PicsAFPYash Dayal playing his first match after being hit for five successive sixes by KKRrsquos Rinku Singh on April 9 also accounted for Abhishek Sharma in the Powerplay Mohit Sharma probably picked up a trick or two from Shami and accounted for four wickets in the middle overs as Hyderabad finished 34 short of the victory target of 189Heinrich Klaasen 64 44 balls 4x4 3x6 looked like playing on a different wicket than his teammates but his solo act wasnrsquot enough for the SunrisersldquoItrsquos unfortunate We sort of lost the game in the first six to eight overs unable to get a partnership together Klaasen again must be given credit He has been tremendous throughout the season Many a time he has played a sole hand Today was another exceptional inningsrdquo SRH head coach Brian Lara said in reply to a question from midday during the postmatch interactionAlso Read IPL 2023 Points Table GT become first team to reach playoffs SRH crash out of lastfourKlaasen the lone fighterldquoI sit in the dugout and never lose hope when Klaasen is out thererdquo the West Indian legend enthused about the South African batter Raving about Shamirsquos skills Lara said ldquoWe said to the guys Shami is looking for wickets He is the leading wickettaker in the PowerplayTitansrsquos bowling tacticsldquoEveryone was very aware of the approach or tactics GT employ when they come out to bowlldquoAs a unit we were unable to match up to what was expected On paper this is a respectable batting lineup We just werenrsquot able to come to the party enough times to find ourselves may be in the top four at this stage of the tournamentrdquo he said in reply to a question on the failure of the Indian battersGujarat the first team to qualify for the Playoffs have had problems in their last two matches Their middle order has failed But a member of their coaching unitmdashassistant coach Mithun Manhasmdashis not worried ldquoThe tournament has been a rollercoaster ride for most teams This time around we have qualified in the 13th gamerdquo Manhas remarked indicating that no team are free of problems