Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Tuesday reached the Indian Premier League (IPL) final for a record 10th time, beating defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) by 15 runs.
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The defeat for GT meant that they will face the winner of Eliminator between Lucknow Super Giants (LSG) and Mumbai Indians (MI) in Qualifier 2 on 26 May.
GT had won the toss and opted to field. Their decision to do so almost did wonders as Darshan Nalkande, playing his first match of the season, seemed to have taken the wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad, who was eventually taken by Shubman Gill in the deep. However, just as the GT players celebrated the dismissal, the no-ball siren went up and that replays confirmed that Nalkande had overstepped.
Nalkande’s overstepping proved costly, as Gaikwad went onto score 60 off 44 deliveries.
Gaikwad and his opening partner Devon Conway helped CSK get off to a smooth start, forging a 50-run stand for the first wicket in 38 deliveries.
Gaikwad was eventually dismissed in the 11th over, and from then on, the GT bowlers kept collecting wickets at regular intervals.
One of the dismissals that caught the eye of many was that of Shivam Dube’s. Dube was facing Noor Ahmad in the 12th over, and in the third ball, Dube fell to Noor’s deceptive spin, with the Afghan’s full length ball eventually dismantling the leg stump.
Once Gaikwad departed, Conway (40), lacked support from his other partners including Dube and Ajinkya Rahane, and was eventually dismissed by Mohammed Shami in the 16th over.
CSK then needed cameos from Ravindra Jadeja (22) and Moeen Ali (9*) to post a total of 172/7.
In GT’s reply, the CSK bowlers were attacking from the word go. Wriddhiman Saha was the first to depart in the third over. Saha went for the pull but wrong execution of the shot meant he holed it out to Matheesha Pathirana at deep square leg off Deepak Chahar’s bowling.
As has been the case this season, expectations were high from Shubman Gill, but he started rather on a slow note, collecting his first maximum only in the third over. Gill collected only four fours and a six, and apart from a 31-run stand with Dasun Shanaka, Gill hardly enjoyed substantial partnerships with his other partners.
Gill eventually fell victim to a short ball from Chahal, going for a rather early pull and eventually landing at the hands of Devon Conway at deep square leg.
Once Gill was dismissed, GT were reeling at 88/5 in the 13th over, and that put them in a tough position to ace the chase.
But, not for the first time this season, Rashid Khan showcased aggressiveness with the bat.
Rashid had slammed an unbeaten 79 off 32 against MI that ended in a losing cause, and although he was not as aggressive as then, he still managed to strike at more than 180.
Rashid was eventually dismissed by Tushar Deshpande in the 19th over, after the Afghan dispatched the shot towards Conway at deep point.
GT were restricted to 142/9, and it was even fitting that Matheesha Pathirana, CSK’s find of the season, took the last wicket of Mohammed Shami, off the very last ball of the match.
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