First it was boy wonder Vaibhav Sooryavanshi who played some astonishing shots in a brilliantly paced 96 off 47 balls to steer Rajasthan Royals to 214 for six after Royals opted to bat on a used surface in the Qualifier 2.

The target was in the range of a top-heavy Titans but they ended up making short work of it courtesy a special 167-run stand off 77 balls between the prolific opening duo of Gill (104 off 53) and Sai Sudharsan (58 off 32).

Freakishly, Sudharsan lost the control of his bat for the second game in a row to be hit wicket. Titans coasted to the target in 18.4 overs.

Titans will meet defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru in the final in Ahmedabad on Sunday, days after being hammered by the same team in Dharamsala.

Highlighting their remarkable consistency, Titans have entered the final thrice since their inaugural season in 2022 when they lifted the trophy.

Rajasthan Royals have two X-factor players in Sooryavanshi and Jofra Archer and both had to deliver to take their team to the final. Sooryavanshi did but on a rare occasion Archer went wicket-less in the powerplay and the others failed to step up.

The manner in which Gill and Sudharsan batted in the chase was a treat for the purists of the game. Piercing the field with proper cricketing shots is their strength and that is what they did to perfection.

Gill loves the pull shot and he executed it with ease even against the express pace of Jofra Archer. He used the feet against spinners for boundaries and used the same tactic to reach his hundred, picking Jadeja for a four over extra cover.

With the kind of season Gill has had, he has made a strong case for his inclusion in the India T20 squad after being dropped in the lead-up to the World Cup. He collected 15 fours and three sixes in his classy knock.

There was a bigger crowd in attendance than on Wednesday night, and the majority of them turned up to watch 15-year-old Sooryavanshi go about his belligerent business.

They got more than their money's worth with Sooryavanshi continuing to boss the best bowlers around, including Kagiso Rabada

and Jason Holder on this occasion.

Having lost Yashavi Jaiswal and Dhruv Jurel inside the second over, Sooryavanshi needed to adapt on a used surface where Mohammed Siraj, Rabada and Prasidh Krishna came with a clear plan: bowl back of a length into the body and throw in the odd bouncer to contain Sooryavanshi.

With the same pitch picked for the second game in a row, the ball did not come on to the bat as nicely as it did in the Eliminator.