The first innings of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 final between the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and the Gujarat Titans (GT) at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad proved to be an excellent one for the home side. After the fireworks from the GT batters, fans were left awestruck with the mid-innings performance which had rapper Divine and singer Jonita Gandhi on show.
Divine started his performance with a tribute to the late Sidhu Moosewala. Among the songs that he sang were the popular hits like 'Baazigar' and 'Kaam 25' from one of his most famous albums.
Videos of the same can be seen here:
During the first innings, young and uncapped batter Sai Sudharsan stepped up to the occasion after the early wicket of the in-form Shubman Gill, who is also the current Orange Cap holder as well. After the bright start that openers Wriddhiman Saha and Gill gave GT, hitting 62 runs in the Powerplay.
However, Ravindra Jadeja got the breakthrough in the seventh over with a brilliant stumping by MS Dhoni. He managed 39 off 20 balls, but his wicket gave way to Sudharsan, who came close to becoming just the third player to hit a century in an IPL final.
Sudharsan's innings finished at 96 runs off just 47 balls, at a strike rate of 204.25 with 8 fours and 6 sixes to his name. He failed to complete his century however, after being caught LBW by CSK pacer Matheesha Pathirana. He helped GT set a target of 215 runs for CSK to chase down.
The run-chase started but only three balls were bowled with one boundary hit.
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