We gave it our all, but Chennai Super Kings take the honours in the summit clash.
Rain interruption, reserve day, rain again on Monday and finally, a 15-over revised target to settle the deal - TATA IPL 2023 final was a saga in itself. After numerous delays, the match was finally done, nearly 30 hours after it was initially scheduled to begin.
As it turned out, Chennai Super Kings ended up clinching the title in a thrilling encounter that saw the match head to the final ball. A memorable season for the Gujarat Titans did not witness an ideal finish, but it takes nothing away from the incredible performances and moments we have delivered this season.
Sudharsan and Saha take us to a big total
The high-octane match got off a stellar start courtesy of our ever-dependable opening pair. Wriddhiman Saha kick-started the boundary flurry and Shubman Gill joined the party instantly. Saha went all-out against Deepak Chahar in the third over, smashing two fours and a six.
Shubman then smashed three boundaries in a row, each one involving sublime timing, symptomatic of his terrific form this edition. Shubman did the three-peat of fours once again in the final over of the powerplay off Maheesh Theekshana, once again scoring those boundaries across all parts of the ground.
The duo added 62 runs in the powerplay, the most in a TATA IPL final. After a season that saw Shubman escalate himself to a whole different level, he was dismissed on 39 off 20 deliveries, thus finishing with 890 runs in the season. However, Sai Sudharsan walked in at No. 3 and kept the scorecard ticking.
Saha continued the onslaught and completed yet another crucial half-century for us this season. Sudharsan, who took a few deliveries to settle in, started playing some delightful drives to find gaps. Another crucial partnership for the second wicket that kept us on board for a big total.
Saha’s dismissal brought an end to a 54-run stand, but with the scorecard reading 131 for two as skipper Hardik Pandya came to join Sudharsan. Our young batter produced some timely knocks this season, but saved his best for the last. He started accelerating right after Saha’s dismissal, smacking two big sixes off Theekshana over mid-wicket and completed his third half-century of the season.
He had a little fortune going his way, with an attempt to scoop over fine-leg flying over third-man for a six off Tushar Deshpande. However, he backed it up with three classy strokes for a boundary, inching ever-so close to a century. Skipper Hardik smacked a couple of timely sixes as well in the process, taking us past the 200-mark.
After a magnificent innings on the biggest possible stage, Sai Sudharsan fell four short of a century, but walked back to a thunderous reception from the home crowd. We ended up scoring 214 for four, the highest total in a TATA IPL final so far.
CSK win it off the final ball
Just as the CSK innings started, rain interrupted play once again and the second innings was reduced to 15 overs, with a revised target of 171 for MS Dhoni’s troops. Their openers got them off to a flying start in the field-restricted overs, with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway adding a 74-run partnership.
Noor Ahmad broke the deadlock and brought us back in action with a superb over that saw both openers walk back in a span of three deliveries. Both batters miscued trying to loft the Afghan spinner and could only find the fielders. However, Ajinkya Rahane ensured the scoring rate didn’t dip for Chennai.
The balance kept swinging in the next few overs, with Mohit Sharma picking up the wicket of Rahane, but Ambati Rayudu’s quickfire cameo got the equation in Chennai’s favour. Mohit fought back once again, with two consecutive wickets of Ambati Rayudu and MS Dhoni.
It seemed like we clinched the match after a terrific final over from Mohit Sharma dragged it down to 10 runs in two balls, but Ravindra Jadeja produced a miraculous finish to take CSK over the line.
A fantastic season for the Gujarat Titans, which saw us break multiple records and reach multiple heights, but it wasn’t meant to be. We congratulate the Chennai Super Kings on clinching their fifth TATA IPL title.
Brief Scores
Gujarat Titans 214/4 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 96, Wriddhiman Saha 54) lost to Chennai Super Kings 171/5 in 15 overs (Devon Conway 47, Mohit Sharma 3/36)
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