By CS Chiwanza.
Chennai Super Kings booked their ticket to this year’s final which will be played at the Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad, with a 15-run win over Gujarat Titans in their Tata India Premier League match played at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, on Tuesday.
CSK will be making a 10th final appearance in 14 years, and have an opportunity to match Mumbai Indians’ five IPL titles after defending 172 runs in the first Qualifier.
CSK’s bowlers hardly put a foot wrong as they bowled out GT for 157 in 20 overs. GT will now play the winner of the Eliminator for a shot at playing CSK in the final.
Ruturaj Gaikwad put CSK on course with a well-played 60 off 44 that featured seven fours and a single six. Gaikwad has now scored three half-centuries this season. He faced 36 deliveries as he cantered his way to a 14th IPL half-century.
Gaikwad was supported by his opening partner, Devon Conway (40 off 34). The pair provided CSK with a solid platform to build from with an 87-run opening stand. It is the ninth time the prolific partnership has passed the 50-run mark this season.
CSK stumbled though and lost their way after Gaikwad’s dismissal in the 11th over. GT’s bowlers managed to pull the game back with a few wickets and dragging the run rate down.
But, the hosts enjoyed a bump in run rate thanks to cameos by Ajinkya Rahane(17 off 10), Ambati Rayudu (17 off 9) and Moeen Ali (9 off 4)towards the backend.
The cameos helped CSK score 43 runs off 23 balls. While the trio of Rahane, Rayudu and Ali was hacking away, Ravindra Jadeja kept things together with a well-played 22 off 16.
Deepak Chahar gave CSK the best start to the defence of their total with the dismissal of Wriddhiman Saha (12) in the third over.
It is the 12th time the opener has been out in the first six overs. The CSK bowlers kept the pressure on and earned a second wicket in the sixth over to disrupt Hardik Pandya (8) and Shubman Gill’s rebuilding effort.
CSK spinnes take control
Shubman Gill watched as a procession of wickets tumbled at the other end while he painstakingly worked his way to a 38-ball 42 runs. GT’s innings depended on the in-form Gill to bat as deep as possible.
Gill came into the match on the back of two back-to-back match-winning centuries. But, Gill was undone by Chahar after a torturous period of trial by spin.
CSK’s spinners took control of the middle overs with great bowling that pushed GT’s required run rate to close to 11 after 11 overs.
Rashid Khan seemed on the verge of resurrecting GT’s innings as he tonked three fours and two sixes on his way to 30 off 16.
For a moment, it looked like the spinner was about to recreate his Wankhede heroics. Against Mumbai Indians, Khan struck an unbeaten 79 off 32. But, like his swashbuckling knock then, this knock was also in vain.
Dasun Shanaka (17), Vijay Shankar (14) and Wriddhiman Saha were the only GT batters to reach double figures. Despite the loss, Mohammed Shami remains the purple cap holder with 26 wickets.
Ravindra Jadeja was CSK’s most successful bowler with 2-18 runs in four overs. Jadeja also passed the 150-IPL wickets mark. He has now taken 151 scalps in the IPL.
Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana and Matheesha Pathirana also took two wickets each but at higher economy rates of 7.25, 7.00 and 9.25 runs an over respectively.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni (capt & wk), Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, Tushar Deshpande.
GUJARAT TITANS: Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya (capt), David Miller, Dasun Shanaka, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Darshan Nalkande, Mohammed Shami, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma.