In a battle between emerging young captains, Ruturaj Gaikwad outshined Shubman Gill as Chennai Super Kings (CSK) clinched a 30-run victory over Gujarat Titans (GT) on Tuesday, 26 March in the 7th match of the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
Chasing a mammoth target of 207 runs, the Gill-led side could only manage to post 143 runs at the loss of eight wickets, as Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, and Mustafizur Rahman each claimed two wickets each.
Early Blows For The Visitors
The visiting team launched into action with a blistering start as Shubman Gill (8 off 5 balls) formed a promising 28-run partnership alongside Wriddhiman Saha. However, their momentum was halted abruptly in the 3rd over of GT's innings when Gill fell LBW to Deepak Chahar's delivery. Chahar struck again in the 5th over, dismissing Saha (21 off 17) with a catch taken by Tushar Deshpande at deep square leg.
The next setback for GT came with the dismissal of Vijay Shankar for 12, as MS Dhoni showcased his expertise behind the stumps, diving to his right to claim Shankar's catch off a delivery by Daryl Mitchell.
As the visiting team aimed to reconstruct their innings, David Miller and Sai Sudharsan stitched together a 41-run partnership off 26 balls. But their hopes suffered a setback in the 12th over when Miller departed, succumbing to a delivery from Tushar Pandey. Ajinkya Rahane sealed the dismissal with a remarkable catch at deep mid-wicket.
GT Batters Fell Like a Pack of Cards
In the 15th over, impact player Sudharsan, who scored 37 off 31 balls fell victim to Matheesha Pathirana's delivery, just three balls after surviving a dropped catch by Rachin Ravindra. Making amends for the missed opportunity, Ravindra took Azmatullah Omzrzai's (11 off 10 balls) catch on a Deshpande delivery.
Rashid Khan followed suit in the next over as Mustafizur Rahman nabbed his wicket. GT's last recognised batter, Rahul Tewatia (6 off 11 deliveries), too, couldn't make an impact as Mustafizur clinched his second wicket.
Shivam Dube's Onslaught
Earlier in the first innings, with CSK being sent in to bat first, Shivam Dube hammered a 23-ball 51 after Rachin Ravindra and Ruturaj Gaikwad set frantic pace with a whirlwind 46 each as Chennai Super Kings blazed to 206/6 off 20 overs.
Dube blazed to his half-century off 22 balls, hammering five sixes and two fours after Ravindra had set the pace with a sensational 20-ball 46 and skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad had contributed a more sedate 46 off 36 balls, hitting five boundaries and one six.
New Zealander Rachin Ravindra was the main reason for their brilliant start as he went hammer and tongs at the pacers to help CSK race to 50 in the fifth over. He was out for 46 off 20 balls and CSK were 62/1 in the sixth over. He struck six boundaries and three sixes in his 20-ball knock.
The Rutu-Rachin Show
CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was a spectator as Rachin Ravindra was going great guns, took over the scoring after that and unleashed some superb shots as CSK set an electrifying pace. Gaikwad, who was dropped by Sai Kishore at slip off Omarzai when on 1, punished the Titans as he hammered some superb shots, hitting five boundaries and one six to score 46 off 36 balls, hitting his lone six off Spencer Johnson.
There was no respite for Gujarat Titans as Shivam Dube took over the attack as he waded into the bowlers, hitting sixes at will as he completed a well-deserved half-century. Dube blasted five sixes and two boundaries as CSK maintained a healthy scoring rate despite losing Ajinkya Rahane for a run-a-ball 12. Rashid Khan accounted for the left-hander from Mumbai as he got him with a googly this time Dube mistimed his shot that came off the bottom of the bat and was caught by Vijay Shankar at extra cover.
The CSK onslaught continued as 20-year-old Sameer Rizvi, who came in next, hammered 14 runs off four balls from Rashid. Mohit Sharma got him in the final over, getting him to loft straight down the throat off David Miller as CSK ended their 20 overs with 206/6.
With inputs from IANS
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