NEW DELHI: Gujarat Titans moved closer to a top-two finish in IPL 2026 after beating Chennai Super Kings by 89 runs in Ahmedabad on Thursday.Gill, Sudharsan and Buttler powered Gujarat Titans to 229/4 before their bowlers bundled out CSK for 140 in 13.4 overs.Shubman Gill scored 64 off 37 balls while B Sai Sudharsan made 84 off 53 balls as the opening pair added 125 runs. It was their seventh century partnership in the IPL, the most by any pair in the tournament’s history.Jos Buttler then added the finishing touches with an unbeaten 57 off 27 balls.CSK, who needed a win to stay alive in the playoff race, lost four wickets inside the powerplay and never recovered. The defeat also confirmed that the five-time champions failed to qualify for the playoffs for the third straight season.Mohammed Siraj struck early for GT, removing Sanju Samson off the first ball of the innings. Samson edged a wide delivery behind to Buttler.Siraj finished with three wickets in the powerplay, while Kagiso Rabada dismissed Matthew Short after the batter mistimed a shot to mid-on.Only Shivam Dube showed some resistance for CSK with a 17-ball 47 filled with sixes, but the chase ended quickly.GT now have nine wins from 14 matches and 18 points. Sunrisers Hyderabad can also reach 18 points if they beat Royal Challengers Bengaluru, who already have 18 points.Earlier, Gill started aggressively and targeted left-arm pacer Spencer Johnson in the powerplay. He reached his fifty in 23 balls, while Sudharsan completed his half-century in 35 balls, his fifth consecutive IPL fifty.Gill scored most of the runs during their 125-run stand, using cuts, drives and sweeps to keep the scoreboard moving.When Noor Ahmad came into the attack, Gill attacked him immediately with two sixes.The partnership also helped Gill and Sudharsan go past the pairs of David Warner-Shikhar Dhawan and Travis Head-Abhishek Sharma, who had six century stands each in IPL history.After Gill got out, Sudharsan and Buttler kept the scoring rate high. Sudharsan continued playing his shots with control, while Buttler hit four sixes, including two against Noor Ahmad, as GT crossed the 220-run mark.
