Yesterday match result: Gujarat Titans finish off Chennai Super Kings in style
Gujarat Titans secured a commanding 89-run victory over Chennai Super Kings, effectively ending CSK's IPL campaign. Stellar batting performances from Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, and Jos Buttler propelled GT to a massive total, while Mohammed Siraj's early bowling spell dismantled CSK's chase. This win brings Gujarat Titans closer to a top-two finish.
AHMEDABAD: Gujarat Titans didn’t put a foot wrong on Thursday as they closed in on a top-two berth and finished off Chennai Super Kings’ IPL campaign for this year. While the batters led by the terrific trio of Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharshan and Jos Buttler did the early damage, Mohammed Siraj took 3-26 in his first spell to all but finish off CSK. Siraj moved the ball around just a bit and hit the hard length to have the wickets of Sanju Samson, Ruturaj Gaikwad and Urvil Patel that put CSK in a deep hole chasing 230.
Earlier, Gill turned on the style as he smashed a 64 off 37 balls (7x4, 3x6) after being asked to bat first. B Sai Sudharsan (84 off 53b; 7x4, 4x6) and Jos Buttler (57* off 27b; 5x4, 4x6) chipped in as CSK found themselves on the wrong foot in the must-win game. The intent from the first ball was to maximise the Powerplay on a flat pitch.
Gill began with a neat leg-glance off left-arm pacer Mukesh Choudhary. In the next over off Spencer Johnson, sandwiched between a classy punch by Gill through the point region and a sublime straight drive, was a delivery down the leg side that injured Sanju Samson's index finger and forced the visitors to replace him with Urvil Patel behind the stumps. Gill lofted Anshul Kamboj over the mid-wicket boundary for his first maximum before meting out the same treatment to left-arm wrist spinner Noor Ahmad, hoicking him for sixes over deep mid-wicket to race to his half-century off 23 balls.
However, leftarm pacer Gurjapneet Singh delivered quiet overs after the Powerplay, and Sudharsan’s inability to force the pace at the same time exerted pressure on his captain, who skied a length ball by Johnson in the 13th over and Shivam Dube completed a running catch. His dismissal brought Buttler to the strike, who quickly got into the business by hitting the Afghan for two sixes in the 14th over. Along with Sudharsan, Buttler added 82 off 37 balls to sustain the momentum of the 125-run opening wicket partnership.