IPL 2023: Ruturaj Gaikwad’s half-century innings followed by a brilliant performance by the bowlers helped Chennai Super Kings beat defending champions Gujarat Titans by 15 runs in the first qualifier of the Indian Premier League T20 here on Tuesday to move towards the title for the fifth time.
On the basis of Gaikwad’s 44-ball 60-run innings, Chennai scored 172 runs for seven wickets after including Gujarat Titans’ innings for 157 runs in the last ball and cut the ticket for the final for the 10th time.
Gujarat team all out for the first time in this tournament
The Gujarat team has been all out for the first time in this tournament. The Gujarat team will now take on the winner of the eliminator match between Lucknow Supergiants and Mumbai Indians to be played on Wednesday in the second qualifier.
Shubman Gill made the maximum contribution of 42 runs for Gujarat Titans. Rashid Khan increased the excitement of the match by playing an inning of 30 runs in 16 balls with the help of three fours and two sixes in the last over but it proved to be insufficient for the team.
For Chennai, Ravindra Jadeja, Mahish Teekshana, Deepak Chahar and Mathish Pathirana took two each while Tushar Deshpande took one wicket. Ruturaj shared a 64-ball 87-run partnership for the first wicket with Devon Conway, hitting seven fours and a six. Conway, however, did not look comfortable during his 34-ball 40.
Ajinkya Rahane (17 in 10 balls), Ambati Rayudu (17 in nine balls) failed to convert a good start into a big innings. Ravindra Jadeja played an inning of 22 runs in 16 balls in the last over. For Gujarat Titans, Mohammed Shami and Mohit Sharma took two wickets each while Darshan Nalkande, Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed took one wicket each.
Chasing the target, Shubman Gill, who was running in excellent rhythm, opened his hand by hitting a six against Chahar in the third over. In the same over, Wriddhiman Saha became the first victim of this bowler after hitting a four. Mahish Teekshana, who came for bowling in the sixth over, trapped Hardik Pandya (eight runs) in his spin. Gill then hit one four each against Jadeja in the seventh and ninth overs, while Dasun Shanaka (17 runs) increased the run pace by hitting fours and sixes in consecutive balls against Teekshana in the 10th over.
Jadeja hunted Shanaka in the 11th over and David Miller (four runs) in the 13th over. In the next over of Chahar’s big shot, Gill was caught by Conway. Big-hitting Rahul Tewatia continued his bad run in the tournament and was bowled by Teekshana in the 15th over after scoring three runs. In the same over, Rashid completed the team’s hundred by taking two runs.
While Rashid hit sixes and fours against Pathirana in the 16th over and Deshpande in the 17th over, Shankar reduced the difference between runs and balls by hitting a six against Deshpande. Vijay Shankar (14 runs) was caught by Ruturat in the 18th over trying to hit another big shot against Pathirana. On the next ball, substitute player SP Senapati ran out Darshan Nalkande without opening the account. Gujarat’s hopes ended when Rashid was dismissed by Deshpande in the next over.
Pathirana drove Shami (five runs) on the last ball of the match. Nalkande, playing his first match of the season, had Ruturaj caught by Gill in the second over itself but it was called a no-ball. Ruturaj celebrated this life-giving by hitting a six and then a four on the free hit. Conway hit his first four against the same bowler in the fourth over of the innings.
Ruturaj welcomes Noor Ahmed with a boundary in the sixth over. In the same over, Chennai scored 49 runs in the powerplay with a four from Conway. While Conway was struggling to hit big shots at one end, Ruturaj brought up his half-century in 36 balls with a four off Mohit in the ninth over. This is his fourth half-century in four matches against Gujarat.
In the 12th over, Mohit got Ruturaj caught by David Miller on his slow ball. In the next over, Noor bowled Shivam Dubey (one run), after which the Gujarat bowlers tightened the noose. The team’s century was completed with a single from Conway on the first ball of the 14th over against Rashid. In the next over, the ball took the edge of Conway’s bat and went for four runs. This was the team’s first four in 30 balls. Rahane hit a six in the same over but caught Gill at point on the next ball.
In an attempt to play a big shot against Shami, Conway was caught by Rashid at the boundary. Rayudu got out in the 18th over after hitting a six against Rashid.
The fans who expected sixes from Mahendra Singh Dhoni who came to the crease were disappointed. He became Mohit’s second victim by scoring one run. Jadeja hit a four in the last over while Moeen Ali (9 not out) hit a six in Shami’s over to take the team to a competitive score. Jadeja was bowled on the last ball.
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