Indus Valley Times

CHENNAI,MAY 30 : Chennai Super Kings beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets in a nail-biting run chase to be crowned as the champions of IPL 2023.

The win marks the Super Kings’ fifth IPL title — equaling the record for most titles set by arch-rivals Mumbai Indians — in what could turn out to be the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s final outing in the T20 league.

Chennai chased down their revised target of 171 in 15 overs with five wickets to spare in a rain-hit IPL final which went past 1.30 am local time on a reserve day following a washout on Sunday.

All-rounder Ravindra Jadeja stepped up to the plate to take Chennai home after the men in yellow required 10 from the last two deliveries of Titans’ pacer Mohit Sharma. Jadeja hit a six off the penultimate ball and a boundary off the last ball to win it for Chennai.

CSK got off to a solid start with their openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (26 off 16 balls) and Devon Conway (47 off 25 balls) piling up the runs up to once again. Conway took the role of an aggressor and took down Shami and Hardik in the powerplay.

Batters Ajinkya Rahane (27 off 13 balls) and Ambati Rayudu (19 off 8 balls) played crucial cameos, striking in excess of 200, to guide Chennai through their run-chase. Rayudu, in particular, exploded on the 13th over as he lashed Mohit for 6, 4 and 6 to take Chennai closer to the target.

Promoted to no 3, Shivam Dube, who has been Chennai’s most explosive batter this season, saw through his team’s chase with an unbeaten 32 off 21 balls to see his side through alongside Jadeja.

However, CSK skipper MS Dhoni provided the biggest shock of the day after he was dismissed for a first-ball duck in the 13th over which sent the crowd into abject silence.

Batting first, the Titans reached 214 for 4, the highest-ever total in an IPL final, thanks to Sai Sudharsan’s magnificent knock of 96 from 47 balls.

The left-handed Sudharsan, an uncapped Indian batsman, took apart the bowling that included an attacking stand of 81 with skipper Hardik Pandya in Ahmedabad. Sudharsan’s knock is now the highest score by an uncapped player in the history of the Indian Premier League final.

The final, which was pushed back to a reserve day after rain washed out play on Sunday, is believed to be Chennai skipper MS Dhoni’s last match as a player.

Thousands of fans, who left the 132,000-capacity stadium disappointed after a washout, returned to the world’s biggest cricket stadium wearing Dhoni’s yellow jersey.

The 41-year-old Dhoni, playing his 250th IPL match, won the toss to a loud roar from the crowd but it was the in-form Shubman Gill who raised the noise with his 20-ball 39.

Gill, fresh from his third century this season in the last playoff and who leads the batting chart with 890 runs, was dropped on three when Deepak Chahar spilled an easy catch off fast bowler Tushar Deshpande.

The opener smashed Deshpande for three straight boundaries in the next over and kept up the attack with regular hits to the fence before Dhoni’s lightning-quick glovework sent back the batsman, stumped off Ravindra Jadeja.

Fellow opener Wriddhiman Saha made 54 and put on 64 runs with Sudharsan, who took charge after his partner’s departure.

He raised his fifty in 33 balls and then exploded, hitting Deshpande for six and four boundaries in a 20-run over. Pandya joined the blitz in his unbeaten 12-ball 21.

Slingshot-action Sri Lankan fast bowler Matheesha Pathirana denied Sudharsan, who hit seven sixes, his hundred but Gujarat, who won the title in their maiden season last year, put up a challenging total.

Gujarat Titans: 214/4 in 20 overs (Sai Sudharsan 96, Wriddhiman Saha 54).

Chennai Super Kings: 171/5 in 15 overs (Devon Conway 47, Ajinkya Rahane 27, Shivam Dube 32 not out, Ravindra Jadeja 15 not out; Mohit Sharma 3/36, Noor Ahmad 2/17).

-The New Indian Express