It turned out to be a fairytale ending for Ambati Rayudu. When chips were down, Ravindra Jadeja rose to the occasion, kept calm and took on the best death overs speciallist, Gujarat Titans (GT) Mohit Sharma to win the fifth Indian Premier League (IPL) title for Chennai Super Kings (CSK). The IPL 2023 final that spanned over three days turned out to be a cracker of the game living up to the hype. The winner of the IPL 2023 was not decided until the final ball of the game. The local boy Jadeja etched his name on the list of legendary CSK players if he wasn’t there already.
Revised run chase starts with a bang
CSK's mammoth run chase was interrupted by rain in the first over itself with Ruturaj Gaikwad scoring a boundary off the third ball. After a long delay of two hours and 16 minutes, the run chase restarted. The target was revised with CSK needing 171 runs from 15 overs. Gaikwad ended the first over with a boundary. Devon Conway looked like a man possessed and smashed fours and sixes. Gaikwad took on Rashid Khan as the Afghan spinner conceded 16 runs. CSK crossed the 50-run mark from four overs.
Noor stages Titans’ comeback
Noor Ahmad started off well conceding just six runs. Conway took on Joshua Little and hit him for a massive six. Ahmad got the breakthrough in his second over. Gaikwad could not pick the line and got dismissed after scoring 26 runs from 16 balls. In the same over, he got the wicket of Conway with a googly that extracted extra bounce from the surface. Conway contributed with 47 runs from 25 balls including four fours and two sixes. Ajinkya Rahane started off with a bang smashing Little for two sixes. Ahmad finished his excellent spell with a five-run over. He took the wickets of both openers and conceded 17 runs from three overs.
Rahane, Rayudu smash big
In the next over, Rahane smashed Rashid for two fours. Mohit Sharma was introduced into the attack and he delivered with the wicket of Rahane with a slower one. Rahane contributed with a cameo of 13-ball 27. Dube broke the shackles in the 12th over with two consecutive sixes off Rashid. Playing in his last IPL game, Rayudu took on GT's death overs speciallist. Rayudu stayed deep in the crease and hit Mohit for two fours and a six. Mohit got his revenge and took a catch off his own bowling. Rayudu signed off with an 8-ball 19 cameo. Dhoni promoted himself up the order but got out for a golden duck playing the ball straight to covers fielder.
Sir Jadeja finishes in style
In the final two overs, CSK needed 21 runs. Shami bowled the penultimate over. Dube and Ravindra Jadeja could not hit a single boundary. Shami conceded eight runs in his last over. Mohit had 13 runs to defend in the final over. He started off with a dot ball. Dube could take just a single off the yorker. Jadeja could not get underneath either and took a single. Dube failed to get under the ball again and managed to take a single. With 10 runs needed off the final two balls, GT fans were pumped. Then Jadeja stayed deep in the crease and hit it straight over the bowler’s head for a six. Under-pressure Mohit erred with his line and then finished the run chase with a boundary.
Electric powerplay overs
Earlier, Dhoni won the toss and opted to field first. In the first two overs, not a single boundary was hit but Deepak Chahar dropped an easy catch of in-form Shubman Gill off Tushar Deshpande's bowling. Saha took on Chahar hitting him for two fours and a six. In the next over, Gill rubbed salt on Deshpande's wounds with three consecutive fours. In the next over, Chahar dropped Saha's catch off his own bowling. Dhoni introduced Maheesh Theekshana into the attack and Gill hit for three consecutive fours as well. GT scored 62 runs from powerplay overs.
Gill’s big wicket
Jadeja broke the opening partnership. Jadeja took the ball away from Gill which missed his bat and Dhoni took the bails off in a flash. Gill departed after a 20-ball 39 including seven fours. Only one boundary was scored in the next three overs. At halfway stage, DC were 86/1. Sudharsan took the attacking route and smashed an off-colour Matheesha Pathirana for two fours. He hit his first six off Jadeja's bowling. Chahar returned to bowl and got rid of Saha with a slower ball. Saha scored 54 runs from 39 balls including five fours and one six.
Sudharsan surprises CSK
Theekshana came back into the attack and was smashed for two sixes by a rampant Sudharsan. The southpaw got to his third fifty of the season with a boundary in next over. Deshpande was very expensive in his third over. Sudharsan hit him for a six followed by three fours. In the penultiamte over, Deshpande was hit for two sixes by Pandya and a four by Sudharsan. In the final over, Pathirana erred and Sudharsan hit two consecutive sixes. Sudharsan missed his maiden century as he got out lbw next ball. But Pathirana broke the record for highest score for an uncapped batter in IPL final. His 47-ball 96 was studded with eight fours and six sixes. Pathirana finished well and dismissed Rashid for a two-ball duck. GT posted 214/4, highest total in IPL final. Pandya remained unbeaten for 14-ball 21.
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