Shubman Gill's century has put Gujarat Titans into the IPL final after they chased down a Rajasthan total powered by another blitz from teen wunderkind Vaibhav Sooryavanshi
India skipper outshines teen's fireworks to book IPL final berth
Josh Hazlewood's defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru will face Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League final after Shubman Gill's side chased down Rajasthan Royals in the Qualifier 2 playoff.
A 167-run opening partnership between Indian captain Gill and Sai Sudharsan steered Gujarat to the seven-wicket win with eight balls to spare.
Gujarat pulled off their highest successful chase at 3-219, in reply to Rajasthan's 6-214.
Royals' innings was based on another superlative innings from 15-year-old Vaibhav Sooryavanshi, who smashed 96 off 47 balls.
He was trumped by Gill, who hit 104 off 53 balls, including 15 boundaries.
The final on Sunday in Ahmedabad, Gujarat's home ground, will be a rematch of the first playoff on Tuesday when Bengaluru beat Gujarat by 92 runs in Dharamsala.
Besides Hazlewood RCB have Australia's Tim David while Titans have two Aussies on their coaching staff, Matthew Hayden (batting) and Matthew Wade (wicketkeeping), although the Tasmanian has departed the IPL and is with Australia's ODI side in Pakistan for their tour there that begins tonight.
Opting to bat, Rajasthan made a shaky start against Gujarat's pace being 2-9 after 11 balls. That forced Sooryavanshi to bat slower than usual yet he still powered to 50 off 31 balls and lifted Rajasthan to 2-70 in the Powerplay.
He put on 127 off 65 balls with Ravindra Jadeja, who anchored with 45 not out off 35 balls, including a spell when he retired hurt.
Sooryavanshi, who was finally out caught off Kagiso Rabada in the 18th over, finished the season with 776 runs in 16 innings, averaging 48.5, and all at a strike rate of 237.31.
In reply Gill made 50 off 30 balls as Gujarat scored 0-69 in the Powerplay. Sai Sudharsan showed quicker pace — 50 off 26 balls with seven fours and a six — as Gujarat's 100 came up in only 52 balls.
"We complement and understand each other's game very well, and when we are batting out there, our communication is very good," Gill said after being named player of the match.
"We know one of us has to take down one of the bowlers, and I think we are very good at deciding who's going to take down what bowler."
The pair had 167 off 77 and seemed unstoppable until Sudharsan was out hit wicket for a second game running in the 13th over. His bat slipped out of his gloves and hit the stumps, again. He'd made 58 off 32.
Gill scored the fastest hundred for a Gujarat batter, off 47 balls, beating his own 49-ball record.
When Gill was out leg before to Jofra Archer (1-45) in the 15th over, Gujarat needed only another 33 from 30 balls.
IPL 2026 standings
| Team | M | W | L | T | D | N/R | NRR | Ded. | Bat | Bowl | PTS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1
RCB
|
14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.783 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
|
2
GUT
|
14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.695 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
|
3
SUN
|
14 | 9 | 5 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.524 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 18 |
|
4
RAJ
|
14 | 8 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0.189 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 16 |
|
5
KXI
|
14 | 7 | 6 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0.309 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 15 |
|
6
DEL
|
14 | 7 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.651 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 14 |
|
7
KKR
|
14 | 6 | 7 | 0 | 0 | 1 | -0.147 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 13 |
|
8
CSK
|
14 | 6 | 8 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.345 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 12 |
|
9
MI
|
14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.584 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
|
10
LSG
|
14 | 4 | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | -0.74 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 8 |
M: Matches played
W: Wins
L: Losses
T: Ties
D: Drawn
N/R: No results
NRR: Net Run Rate
Ded.: Deductions
Bat: Batting Bonus
Bowl: Bowling Bonus
PTS: Total points
Australians in IPL 2026
Chennai Super Kings: Matt Short ($255k), Spencer Johnson ($255k, replaces Nathan Ellis ($340k))
Delhi Capitals: Mitchell Starc ($2m)
Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Josh Hazlewood ($2.13m), Tim David ($510k)
Punjab Kings: Marcus Stoinis ($1.9m), Ben Dwarshuis ($745k), Mitchell Owen ($510k), Cooper Connolly ($510k), Xavier Bartlett ($136k)
Kolkata Knight Riders: Cameron Green ($3.5m)
Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins ($3.5m), Travis Head ($2.38m), Jack Edwards ($510k, withdrawn)
Lucknow Super Giants: Josh Inglis ($1.49m), Mitchell Marsh ($578k)