Chennai, (Samajweekly) A dominant Chennai Super Kings came up with a clinical bowling performance after Shivam Dube hammered a 23-ball 51 while Rachin Ravindra and Ruturaj Gaikwad set a frantic pace with a whirlwind 46 each to lay a solid foundation to help them thoroughly outplay Gujarat Titans by 63 runs in Match 7 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2024 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium here on Tuesday.
In a replay of the 2023 final that Chennai won to win their fifth IPL title, 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.
Chennai posted a massive 206/6 off 20 overs and with the scoreboard pressure working for them, they bowled superbly and fielded brilliantly to restrict Gujarat Titans to 143/8 in 20 overs and registered an impressive win, their second of the 2024 edition after they had started with a victory over Royal Challengers Bengalury in the tournament opener.
Deepak Chahar struck two quick blows including the early wicket of Gujarat Titans’ skipper Shubman Gill as CSK maintained their control of the match and did not allow Gujarat Titans to fight back. Chahar struck the deadly blow in the third over of the innings when he trapped Shubman Gill LBW as the ball pitched on the good length stayed a tad low and hit the Gujarat skipper on the pad. Gill reviews it but could not get it overturned as DRS goes with the umpire’s call.
The 2022 IPL winner lost their first wicket with 28 runs on the board. They failed to wrest back the momentum, losing three wickets for 55 in the eighth over and never recovered. The Chennai pacers claimed six of the eight wickets to fall as they used the conditions well on a pitch that had slightly more grass than usual.
Chahar (2-28 off 4) also got Gujarat’s other opener, Wriddhiman Saha for 21 off 17, forcing him to lob a catch to Tushar Deshpande as Gujarat slumped to 34/2 in the fifth over. Saha had started well, hitting four boundaries but could not score a big one as CSK maintained the same high intensity that they produced while batting.
Gujarat failed to recover from those setbacks and continued to lose wickets at regular intervals as Chennai bowlers did a splendid job while they also fielded and caught superbly to maintain the pressure on Gujarat Titans. Rachin Ravindra picked three well-judged catches while Ajinkya Rahane pulled off a brilliant diving catch to enthral thousands of CSK fans who packed the stadium. Sai Sudharsan top-scored for Gujarat Titans with 37 off 31 balls, hitting three boundaries while David Miller struck a 16-ball 21 as both of them perished while trying to shore up the scoring rate. Gujarat Titans eventually finished with 143/8 in 20 overs.
While Chahar claimed 2-28 and Mustafizur Rahman, who continued to impress in CSK’s second match, took 2-30, Tushar Deshpande was the best bowler of the day for CSK with 2-21.
Gujarat Titans were thoroughly outplayed as their bowlers were hammered and they lost too many wickets in the Power-play (43/2). Chennai were relentless in their pursuit as their bowlers used the short ball well, varied the pace, and did not allow Gujarat Titans batters many opportunities.
Earlier, CSK got off to a whirlwind start after Shubman Gill won the toss for Gujarat Titans and elected to bowl first. 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. As the Gujarat pacers attempted to use the short ball against him, Ravindra repeatedly used the pull shot to get onto the top of the Titans’ bowling.
Ravindra, who got a chance to open the innings as his compatriot Devon Conway pulled out with an injury, pulled, drove, ramped, and flicked off his hips as he hammered the Gujarat Titans pacers. Ravindra struck the experienced Umesh Yadav for a six and four off successive balls twice — in the second and fourth overs. He picked a delivery off his hips into the crowd and followed it up with a slash over point for a four in the second over. In the fourth over, he repeated the act, hitting Umesh straight over the ropes off a length delivery on the stumps. The next ball was he stepped away from the leg stump and cracked it along the carpet through point and cover-point for a boundary.
In between, the 24-year-old New Zealander cracked boundaries off successive balls off Afghan pacer Azmatullah Omarzai. In the fifth over, Ravindra hammered a six and four in three deliveries against Azmatullah Omarzai as he raced to 42 off 18 balls. Rashid Khan eventually had the measure of him in the sixth over when he foxed Ravindra with a quicker one about which the batter had no idea and Saha whipped off the bails as the batter ventured out of the crease to complete the shot. Rachin was stumped for 46 off 20 balls and CSK were 62/1 in the sixth over.
CSK skipper Gaikwad, who was a spectator as Ravindra was going great guns, took over the scoring and uncorked some superb shots as CSK set an electrifying pace. Gaikwad, who was dropped by Sai Kishore at slip off Omarzai when on 1, punished Gujarat 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 got into the act and 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.
Dube maintained the momentum for CSK with brilliant power-hitting, using raw power to unleash some massive sixes. He was very good against the spinners, starting his knock with sixes on successive balls off Sai Kishore for his first two scoring shots. He also picked Rashid Khan’s googly and deposited it into the crowd over long-on.
Dube treated Spencer Johnson to a four followed by a six off a delivery banged in short in the 15th over. A six off Mohit Sharma in the 19th over followed by a brace helped him reach his fifty before 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, hitting the Afghanistan spinner for a six off the first ball, going down on one knee and sweeping hard over the deep backward square fence, and a couple of balls later, jumped down the track to blast a length ball clear over long-off for another maximum.
Mohit Sharma got him in the final over, getting him to loft straight down the throat of David Miller as CSK ended their 20 overs with 206/6, leaving Gujarat Titans a big chase on a wicket that still looks good for batting. In the end that did not materialise as Gujarat Titans lost by a big margin.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 206/6 in 20 overs (Shivam Dune 51, Rachin Ravindra 46, Ruturaj Gaikwad 46; Rashid Khan 2-49) beat Gujarat Titans 143/8 in 20 overs (Sai Sudarshan 37, Wriddhiman Saha 21, David Miller 21; Tushar Deshpande 2-21, Deepak Chahar 2-28, Mustafizur Rahman 2-30) by 63 runs.
