Chennai Super Kings (CSK) produced a clinical batting performance to beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets to win the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) T20 Cricket Tournament final played at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad yesterday.
After bad weather had stretched the final into the reserve day, the CSK batting fired on all cylinders as they successfully chased down the revised target of 171 runs with Ravindra Jadeja hitting the winning runs in the last ball of the 20th over.
 Match winner Ravindra Jadeja plays a shot |
CSK set about their target in style as their reliable openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Convey mixed caution with aggression and brought up the 50-run stand from just 24 deliveries.
The pair made batting look much easier after the heavy downpour and punished every loose delivery before the left-arm spinner Noor Ahmad finally broke the partnership by removing Gaikwad in the seventh over.
In the same over Ahmad struck a crucial blow when he dismissed Convey, three runs short of a half century after the batsman had hoisted two sixes and struck four boundaries.
Despite the fall of two quick wickets, CSK kept the momentum as Ajinkya Rahane hoisted two sixes off Josh Little as they brought up the 100 runs in 9.1 overs.
Earlier, Gujarat hammered the highest score in an IPL final as they amassed a massive 214 for four from their 20 overs after they had been invited to bat first.
The Gujarat innings was built around two superb half centuries from opener Wriddhiman Saha (54) and Sai Sudharsan (96) who were associated in a second-wicket partnership of 64 runs in just seven overs.
But it was the man in form Shubman Gill who took Gujarat off to a flying start by smashing a 20-ball 39 with the help of seven boundaries and added 67 for the first wicket along with Saha.
Ravindra Jadeja removed the danger man Gill in the seventh over following a clever piece of work behind the stumps from Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.
However, Sudharsan joined Saha and the pair took the CSK bowling apart with a series of boundaries before Skipper Hardik Pandya added the finishing touches with a 12-ball 21.
Sudharsan was racing towards his hundred having hoisted Matheesha Pathirana for back-to-back sixes in the first two deliveries of the last over, but the Sri Lankan ace seamer had the final laugh with a yorker length delivery that increased his wicket-tally to 19.
Chief scores
Gujarat Titans: 214/4 in 20 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 54, Shubman Gill 39, Sai Sudharsan 96, Hardik Pandya 21 n.o, Matheesha Pathirana 2/44)
Chennai Super Kings: 171/5 in 15 overs (Ruturaj Gaikwad 26, Devon Convey 47, Ajinkya Rahane 27, Shivam Dube 32 n.o, Ravindra Jadeja 15 n.o, Noor Ahmad 2/17, Mohit Sharma 3/36).
C.D.
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