Chennai won IPL for the fifth time

Ahmedabad (Uttam Hindu News): Chennai Super Kings won the Indian Premier League (IPL) title for a record fifth time on Monday after a two-day long wait, beating Ahmedabad’s weather caprice and defending champions Gujarat Titans.

Young left-handed batsman Sai Sudarshan (47 balls, 96 runs) scored a mammoth target of 215 before Chennai was reduced to 171 in 15 overs in a rain-curtailed title clash. Chennai achieved this target on the last ball with the help of a combined courageous effort of the batsmen and won by five wickets.

Sudarshan may not have written his name in the list of batsmen who have scored a century in the IPL final, but he scored 96 runs in 47 balls with the help of eight fours and six sixes to take Gujarat to the biggest score of the final.

Probably a difficult target for Chennai in Dhoni’s last IPL, but not impossible. After a long tussle on a night full of excitement and excitement, Chennai needed 10 runs from the last two balls. Ravindra Jadeja gave victory to Chennai by hitting a six on the first ball and a four on the second ball.

This is Chennai’s fifth IPL title and has equaled Mumbai Indians in terms of most IPL wins. After these two teams, only Kolkata Knight Riders (two) have won this tournament more than once.

Chennai started chasing the reduced target quickly after rain. Ruturaj Gaikwad added 10 runs in the very first over, hitting Mohammed Shami for two fours, while Conway hit Hardik Pandya for a six and a four in the next over. Gaikwad-Conway shared a 74-run partnership off 39 balls. The match was slipping out of Gujarat’s hands but Noor Ahmed dismissed both Gaikwad and Conway in the seventh over.

Noor conceded just 17 runs in his allotted three overs, but Chennai made up for it by collecting 44 runs in three overs from his compatriot Rashid Khan. Amidst the rain of runs, Mohit Sharma took three important wickets to keep Gujarat in the match. He first took the wicket of Rahane (13 balls, two fours, two sixes, 27 runs) and gave only six runs in the 11th over, while in the 13th over, Ambati Rayudu (eight balls, 19 runs) and Mahendra Singh Dhoni were dismissed on consecutive balls. Got out

Chennai needed 21 runs in two overs but Shami gave only eight runs in the 14th over. Mohit conceded just three runs from the first four balls of the last over, after which Chennai needed 10 runs from two balls. Jadeja stopped everyone’s breath by hitting a six on the fifth ball of the 20th over. Chennai were four runs away from victory on the last ball. The ball touched the edge of Jadeja’s bat and went between the wicketkeeper and leg-slip towards the boundary and Chennai won the title.

Earlier, Chennai chose to bowl after winning the toss and troubled Gujarat openers in the first two overs. However, in the second over, Deepak Chahar dropped the catch of Shubman Gill off the bowling of Tushar Deshpande. After being given life on a modest score of three runs, Gill opened his hand against Deshpande and hit three consecutive fours and shared a 67-run partnership with Saha in seven overs.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni eventually sent Gill back to the pavilion with a brilliant stumping off Ravindra Jadeja, but before that he had scored 39 runs off 20 balls with the help of seven fours.

Even after the fall of the first wicket, Gujarat’s innings did not stop and Saha took the responsibility of collecting runs on his shoulders. Saha shared a 64-run half-century partnership with Sudarshan, completing his half-century off 36 balls. Saha scored 54 runs in 39 balls with five fours and a six while Chahar got him out caught by Dhoni.

After veteran batsman Saha returned to the pavilion in the 14th over, Chennai would hope that they would be able to stop Gujarat under 200 runs, but Sudarshan did not let it happen. Sudarshan, who scored only 10 runs in the first 12 balls, started batting quickly after Saha’s departure and completed his half-century in 33 balls. He did not stop even after this and in the 17th over started moving towards a century by adding 19 runs against Deshpande.

Sudarshan fell victim to Mathisha Pathirana, four runs away from his first IPL century, although before that he shared an explosive 81-run partnership with Hardik Pandya in just 32 balls to take Gujarat past 200 runs. Pathirana took the wickets of Sudarshan and Rashid Khan after hitting two sixes in the first two balls of the last over and conceded just two runs in the last four balls.

Pathirana took two wickets for 44 runs in four overs, while Jadeja and Chahar achieved one success each for 38 runs in their four overs. Deshpande proved to be Chennai’s most expensive bowler by conceding 56 runs in four overs.