In the first match of the 16th season of the Indian Premier League, Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings had to face defeat. In this match played at Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad, Gujarat Titans won in the last over.
Chasing the target of 179 runs from Chennai, the Gujarat team had lost 5 wickets for 156 runs in 18 overs. After this Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia were at the crease. Then it seemed that Dhoni’s team would win the match, but Rashid Khan scored 10 runs in just three balls at a strike rate of 333.33 and gave his team victory in a thrilling match.
The Gujarat team won by scoring 182 runs for five wickets with four balls to spare from the half-century of Shubman Gill (63 runs in 36 balls), which is his third win in three matches against Chennai Super Kings.
Earlier, the Super Kings scored 178 runs for seven wickets with the half-century of opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (92 runs in 50 balls, 9 sixes, four fours). Apart from him, only Moeen Ali (23) could cross the 20-run mark. On the other hand, leg-spinner Rashid Khan took 26 wickets from Gujarat, Mohammad Shami took 29 while Alzarri Joseph took two wickets for 33 runs.
The Super Kings were the first to use the IPL’s new rule ‘Impact Player’, replacing Ambati Rayudu with Tushar Deshpande (one wicket for 51 runs) in the team at the beginning of Gujarat’s innings. In the second over of the innings itself, Wriddhiman Saha hit sixes and fours on consecutive balls of Deshpande, while Shubman Gill also hit fours.
Saha hit debutant Rajvardhan Hengargekar (three for 36) for a four, but was caught by Shivam Dubey at third man off the ball of the same fast bowler. He scored 25 runs.
Gujarat also fielded Sai Sudarshan in place of Kane Williamson, who was injured while fielding, using an ‘impact player’. Gill hit a four and a six in Deshpande’s next over. Gujarat scored 65 runs for one wicket in the powerplay.
Gill and Sudarshan hit two fours each on Mitchell Santner. Sudarshan (22), however, caught Dhoni in an attempt to tamper with the ball going out of the off side of Hengargekar. Gill took the team’s score to 100 runs in the 11th over with fours and sixes off Jadeja’s consecutive balls and then completed his half-century in 30 balls with a single off Santner’s ball.
Jadeja tried to bring back the Super Kings by bowling Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya (08). Gill was lucky on 57 when Gaikwad dropped his catch off Deshpande and the ball went for six runs. However, he could not take advantage of this lifeline and caught Gaikwad on the next ball.
Gujarat needed 41 runs to win in the last five overs, but only 11 runs were scored in the next two overs. The Gujarat team now needed 30 runs in three overs. Vijay Shankar (27) hit Hengrekar for a six but was caught by Devon Conway at long-off a ball later. Only seven runs were scored in this over as well.
Rashid Khan (10 not out) made Chahar’s upper hand in the 19th over with sixes and fours in consecutive balls. Gujarat needed eight runs in the last over of Deshpande and Rahul Tewatia (15 not out) hit sixes and fours in consecutive balls to win the team.
