If KL Rahul’s unbeaten century early on was a gem of an innings, Sai Sudharsan’s effort later in the game was no less.

Courtesy of Sudharsan’s highest IPL score of 108 not out, his opening partner and captain Shubman Gill’s unbeaten 93, and their unbroken stand, Gujarat Titans walloped the Delhi Capitals by 10 wickets at the Kotla on Sunday and promptly booked a playoffs berth.

With the Titans winning, Royal Challengers Bengaluru and Punjab Kings (both on 17 points) also joined them in the playoffs. The battle for the fourth and remaining spot will now be between the Capitals, Mumbai Indians and the Lucknow Super Giants.

After the Capitals were put into bat, Rahul remained not out on 112 not out (off 65 balls), after being promoted to open alongside Faf du Plessis. Rahul churned out some wonderful strokes to propel the Capitals to 199/3, which was certainly a formidable total. His innings comprised 14 boundaries and four maximums.

For the Titans to chase down the stiff 200-run target, they certainly needed a strong start. The super consistent Sudharsan and skipper Gill not just began strongly, but were effortless for most of their unbroken 205-run stand, taking the Titans home with an over to spare.

“There’s a lot of understanding between us. We complement each other, especially when the other batter is doing well,” Player of the Match Sudharsan said.

Copybook strokes

Just like Rahul did during his innings, Sudharsan too relied primarily on the proper cricketing strokes en route to his second IPL ton. The cut shot is a strength of the Tamil Nadu batsman, and he executed that to perfection throughout his 61-ball unbeaten innings.

Be it against the quicks or spinners, Sudharsan was perfect while executing the cut. Along with that, his pick-up shots over the on-side stood out as well, particularly when he lofted T. Natarajan in the first ball off the 12th over of the run chase. Another praiseworthy shot was when he drove the same bowler straight down the ground for one of his 12 boundaries in the 17th over.

Sudharsan survived a couple of close calls against spinners Vipraj Nigam and Kuldeep Yadav. But those two occasions aside, he was just as fluent, bringing up his hundred with a straight six off Kuldeep.

Equally fluent was Gill, who cleared the ground with ease. No Capitals bowler could pose any kind of threat to Gill, including Bangladeshi white-ball specialist Mustafizur Rahman, who joined the IPL in less than 24 hours after turning out in a T20I against the UAE in Sharjah. The way Sudharsan and Gill batted on Sunday, the Capitals certainly missed the experience and skills of Mitchell Starc.

Placement & strength

Mohammed Siraj concentrated on tailing the ball in towards Rahul, which did give him an anxious moment or two early on. But thanks to Rahul’s skills, he adjusted to create room for himself and work the ball in the gaps for boundaries, even if there wasn’t enough width on offer.

Like his placement, Rahul showed that strength was also a part of his game, which was on display particularly when he took on Kagiso Rabada in the latter’s very first over.

If Rahul was at his aggressive best against Rabada, he preferred to be a tad watchful against Prasidh Krishna, this IPL’s highest wicket-taker (21 scalps) so far.

But when Prasidh erred a little in length, Rahul smashed him for a six and a four to register his fifth IPL ton. On 71, though, Rahul had a let-off when left-arm spinner Sai Kishore, off his own bowling, let one through his legs that earned the former four runs.

Rahul was lucky then, but his team wasn’t so in the end.