Chennai Super Kings outclassed Gujarat Titans in the rain-affected final of Indian Premier League 2023 to become the five-time IPL champions on Tuesday at Narendra Modi Stadium. The 5-wicket win helped CSK equal the record of Mumbai Indians for winning the most IPL trophies. It was Ravindra Jadeja who held his nerves on the final two balls of the finale when 10 runs were required. The southpaw smashed the first one for six down the ground and then hit the final ball for a four on the fine leg to seal the deal for Chennai Super Kings.
Jadeja remained unbeaten for 15 off 6 balls, while Shivam Dube also played a valiant 32-run* knock as Gujarat Titans failed to defend their title.
CSK vs GT IPL 2023 Final Highlights
It was a thrilling contest but rain halted it for a long period to make it stretch beyond the reserve day. While the first innings of the mega finale went well as Gujarat Titans posted 214/4 in 20 overs without any interruption.
The second innings started a bit late due to mid-show followed by a passing shower but the play resumed soon. However, the rain struck back and halted the game for a long time. Chasing 215 to win, Chennai Super Kings were 4/0 in 0.3 overs when the game paused.
After a long delay and a couple of inspections, the play was resumed at 12:10 AM on Tuesday with a revised target of 171 in 15 overs for Chennai Super Kings.
Dynamic duo of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon played with a positive intent as they started smashing the Gujarat Titans bowlers from the word go. It was a rampant display from the CSK’s opening pair in the powerplay in which they scored 72 runs to put the Titans under pressure.
Noor Ahmad pulled the hosts back in the game by dismissing both Ruturaj Gaikwad (26) and Devon Conway (47) in the 7th over. Ahmad spun his web to shift the momentum in the Titans’ way.
However, Ajinkya Rahane, who has been a revelation this season, spun the momentum wheel once again in Chennai’s way with his 13-ball 27-run knock.
Another veteran Ambati Rayudu, who was playing his last IPL match, made it count and scored quickfire 19 runs off 8 balls to make the equation easy for Chennai.
After Rayudu’s fall, MS Dhoni walked out to bat with a huge pop from the crowd but his stay didn’t end as planned and was dismissed for a golden duck by Mohit Sharma. With two wickets in two balls by Mohit Sharma the match one again took a wild turn.
Shivam Dube kept alive Gujarat Titans in the game but it was Jadeja who sealed the win for them.
Earlier, asked to bat first, B Sai Sudharsan struck a 47-ball 96 and missed his maiden IPL century, but did a fine job to take his team to a daunting total with Shubman Gill (39), Wriddhiman Saha (54) and Hardik Pandya (21 not out) chipping in with vital contributions.
21-year-old Sudharsan played one of the finest knocks in the tournament’s final history as he triggered at the right moment to help the Titans post the highest score in the summit clash of IPL history.
He started a bit rusty as former English captain Kevin Pietersen was also critical of his slow start but the 21-year-old picked up the pace and smashed CSK bowlers all around the park in Ahmedabad.
He switched gears at the right moment and hit 8 fours and 6 six during his majestic knock to light up the Narendra Modi Stadium in the big ticket finale.
The southpaw was dismissed in the final over. He smashed Matheesha Pathirana for back-to-back sixes on the first two balls but the CSK pacer bounced back and plumbed him in front of the wicket to dismiss him for 96.
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