Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) led by Ruturaj Gaikwad registered a massive 63-run win over Shubman Gill’s Gujarat Titans (GT) as the Indian Premier League (IPL) witnessed its first one-sided encounter. After Shivam Dube’s 23-ball 51, fiery knock from Rachin Ravindra and Sameer Rizvi's cameo helped CSK set a target of 207 which turned out to be too big for the visitors to put up a fight. This was GT's biggest defeat in terms of runs.
Ravindra goes all guns blazing
Earlier, Gill won the toss and opted to field first. Azmatullah Omarzai bowled a near-perfect over but Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore dropped Gaikwad's catch at first slip. In the second over, Rachin Ravindra went after Umesh Yadav and hit him for a six followed by a four. In Omarzai's next over, he hit two consecutive fours. The Young India-born Kiwi player hit Yadav for another six in the 16-run over. Omarzai's third over was expensive. Ravindra hit another six to get CSK's score past 50. His knock came to an end in the sixth over as wicketkeeper Wriddhiman Saha stumped him out. The opener scored 46 runs from 20 balls including six fours and three sixes. After powerplay overs, CSK were 69/1.
Dube’s power-packed knock
Sai Kishore started with an economical over. In the 10th over, Gaikwad hit the first six of his knock off Spencer Johnson. In his third over, Sai Kishore got Ajinkya Rahane stumped for a run-a-ball 12. Dube came out to bat and smashed two consecutive sixes. Gaikwad fell to Johnson in the 13th over. The opener scored 46 runs from 36 balls including five fours and a six. Dube took on Rashid as well and hit him for a massive six over long-on.
Rizvi’s cameo icing on the cake
The onslaught continued while Daryl Mitchell played a supporting role. Dube did not spare Mohit Sharma either and reached his half-century from just 22 balls. In the penultimate over, Rashid managed to get Dube's wicket. His 23-ball 51 was studded with two fours and five sixes. Sameer Rizvi on his first ball of his IPL career slog-swept Rashid for a six. He hit another six to end the over. In the final over, Mohit ended Rizvi's cameo. Ravindra Jadeja hit a boundary and was run out of the last ball. Mitchell remained unbeaten for 20-ball 24 as CSK posted 206/6.
No momentum in run chase
Saha struggled against Deepak Chahar as he bowled four consecutive dot balls but Gill ended the over with a six. Mustafizur opened the bowling from the other end and was hit for two fours by Saha. In Chahar's next over, Saha decided to attack and hit two fours. He made a comeback by trapping Gill in front of the stumps. Impact player Sai Sudharsan walked out to bat. In his third over, Chahar got the wicket of Saha as well after hitting him on the helmet with a bouncer. He departed for a 17-ball 21. Vijay Shankar hit Tushar Deshpande for a six in the sixth over. GT were 43/2 after powerplay overs.
GT lose the plot
Mitchell in his first over got the wicket of Shankar as MS Dhoni put in a full-length dive to his right. Sudharsan and Miller tried to approach in the run chase sensibly but Rahane's sensational diving catch running in from deep mid-wicket ended the South African's stay at the crease. Miller scored 21 runs from 16 balls. The run rate kept climbing up. Sudharsan failed to accelerate and lost his wicket to Pathirana after getting dropped in the same over. He scored 37 runs from 31 balls.
Omarzai failed to make an impact with the bat as he failed to pick Deshpande's slower ball and got caught by Ravindra. Mustafizur ended possibilities of a Rashid cameo with an off-cutter. CSK made it a one-sided affair. Rahul Tewatia fell to Rahman in the penultimate over. In the final over, Umesh entertained the crowd with a maximum. GT managed to post 143/8 and lost the match by 63 runs.
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