Gujarat Titans won by 6 wickets over Royal Challengers Bangalore in the 70th match of the ongoing IPL 2023 at M. Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru on May 21. Gujarat Titans won the toss and opted to bowl. Virat Kohli smashed a hundred and helped his side to post a decent total of 197 in 20 overs. While chasing, Shubman Gill smashed a stunning ton and Vijay Shankar hit a fifty and seal the deal with 5 balls and 6 wickets in hand as well.

READ MORE: ‘Could have gone deeper’ – Shubman Gill on his knock

Here is what the captains and the player of the match said after the game:

Shubman Gill, Player of the Match said as quoted by Cricbuzz: I am in good form, it’s about getting a start and then converting it into a big one. In the first half of the IPL, I was missing out on those big ones. I was getting a lot of 40s and 50s. Thankfully, it’s all working out for me in the business end of the IPL. You need to keep playing shots in T20 cricket. You have to keep the intent and keep applying yourself, keep the belief. The new ball was holding a bit, but it got easier to bat on. The ball was getting wet, it was difficult for their spinners to bowl. He (Shankar) was trying to hit too hard when he came in, I told him to hold his shape and just try to time it. Once he found the momentum, he’s someone who can hit the ball a long way. I know my game and it’s important for me to be in that area. For any player, it’s important to know what kind of player you are and then just keep building on that. It’s going to be an exciting one, playing against Chennai in Chennai. We have got a great bowling attack for that wicket in particular and hopefully we’ll make it to the final for the second time.

READ MORE: ‘Could have gone deeper’ – Shubman Gill on his knock

Hardik Pandya, GT skipper said as quoted by Cricbuzz: The calmness which the boys had was terrific. We wanted to keep the momentum going. We have ticked a lot of boxes. (On Gill) He knows when he plays those cricketing shots and bats like a batter, it’s a different Shubman Gill. Today, the kind of options he picked and the kind of places where he was hitting, as a bowler he doesn’t give any chance. That makes him very special and the other batter gets confidence from him as well. We would have taken 197 at the start, but we didn’t bowl well. Special innings from Virat, he batted well but we went too early for death bowling. I can’t ask anything better from the boys. Last year, we did well, everything went our way. This year was a different challenge for us. We were expecting people to challenge us. The boys showed tremendous character. A lot of credit goes to all the boys the way they worked hard throughout.

Vijay Shankar said as quoted by Cricbuzz: We have been playing good cricket overall and this chase was really needed for us. Going into the playoffs, chasing close to 200 was really satisfying. I should have finished it. I was set and hitting the ball well towards the end, overall it was a wonderful feeling to win the game. It wasn’t that easy with the new ball when they bowled the back of a length balls into the pitch, that’s the reason why we could not get the ball in the gaps. The way Shubman played was outstanding and he has shown everyone how to bat on different wickets. No reason. I have been practising in the nets and bowling, but with the current rule we have 6 bowlers, only will bowl if it’s really needed but I’m practising in the nets to be ready if that one over is required. We are trying to get closer to the target, not trying to overdo things. Take the game as close as we can, once we get closer to the total and with the firepower we have we can chase any score. Rashid Khan gave us a great example against Mumbai, even though we lost wickets we lost by 20-odd runs. We have been playing good cricket overall, we have been bowling really well, a couple of bowlers leading the charts and Shubman leading the run-scorers and the others chipping in. It’s about taking it game by game and it’s important to enjoy as we don’t get to play in the playoffs every season. To go out there and face CSK in Chennai is going to be really special. It’s a wonderful feeling.

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Faf du Plessis, RCB skipper said as quoted by Cricbuzz: Very disappointed. We played a really strong team tonight, an amazing hundred from Shubman. It was really wet in the second innings. It was wet in the first innings as well, but there wasn’t a lot of grip in the second innings and also we had to change the ball quite a few times during the second innings. Virat played an unbelievable knock to give us a chance and thought that was a good score, but Shubman played incredibly well to take the game away from us. From a batting perspective, the top 4 contributed really well. We missed a few runs from the middle order consistently throughout the season, especially in the back end of the innings, and also in the middle overs perhaps didn’t get as many wickets as we would have liked. He (Kohli) played really good cricket throughout the season and as a partnership probably not a single game where we had anything under 40 as an opening combination. We need to improve well on finishing games especially in the back end. Last year DK had a purple patch and was finishing games left, right and centre, but this season it wasn’t to be. And if you see the teams that succeed they have some good hitters at five at six probably six and seven.