AHMEDABAD — Afghan spinner Noor Ahmad and
India's Anshul Khamboj took three wickets each, while Ravindra Jadeja claimed
two scalps, to trigger a batting collapse as Chennai Super Kings bundled out
hosts Gujarat Titans for 147 in 18.3 overs for a big win in Match 67 of Indian
Premier League (IPL) 2025 here on Sunday.
It turned out to be a Super Sunday for Chennai Super Kings
as the five-time champions ended their season with a massive 83-run victory
over Gujarat Titans at the Narendra Modi Stadium.
This is a massive result in the scope of the IPL playoffs.
With this loss, Gujarat Titans' hopes of finishing among the top two are in
serious jeopardy. The winner of the clash between Mumbai Indians and Punjab
Kings, on Monday, will move past them in the table, and Royal Challengers
Bengaluru could push them down further into an Eliminator spot with a win over
Lucknow Super Giants in the final league game of the season.
Opting to bat first, CSK rode on fifties by Dewald Brevis
and Devon Conway, coupled with quick-fire innings by young guns Ayush Mhatre
and Urvish Patel, to post a massive total of 230/5 in 20 overs.
With a big total to defend, skipper M.S. Dhoni began the
second innings by entrusting the ball to his most experienced bowler, Ravindra
Jadeja, and he responded by conceding seven runs in the first over. Shubman
Gill (13) and Sai Sudharsan (41) got off the mark with a boundary each off
Khaleel Ahmed in the next over.
Gill then played a glorious straight drive, after coming
down the pitch, and dispatched Kamboj for a six down the ground. However, the
24-year-old Kamboj struck back on the next delivery, finding Gill’s outside
edge, which went to Urvil Patel in the slips.
Things went from bad to worse for Gujarat Titans when Jos
Buttler (7) slashed at Khaleel’s back-of-the-length delivery outside off, which
Kamboj made no mistake in grabbing a catch. Sherfane Rutherford’s brief time at
the crease came to an end when he mistimed a pull shot and departed for a duck
for Kamboj’s second wicket on the day to reduce GT to 35/3 by the end of the
power-play.
Sudharsan stood tall at one end, playing a gritty knock,
trying to prevent a collapse. He added 54 runs in partnership with Shahrukh
Khan (19) for the fourth wicket. The duo started to ramp up in the 10th over
and conjured 18 runs off Shivam Dube, but Jadeja refused to let GT back in the
game and claimed the scalps of both batters in the next over.
A thick edge off the bat of Shahrukh, on the first ball of
the over, saw the ball go to Pathirana at short third-man, which the Sri Lankan
quick almost fumbled. Sudharsan soon followed his partner to the dugout when a
slightly shorter delivery saw him hit straight to Dube at backward point.
From thereon, GT virtually stood little to no chance of
clawing back into the game.
Rashid Khan (12) fell, after hitting a four and a six, to
national team compatriot Noor Ahmad. Matheesha Pathrina uprooted Gerald
Coetzee’s (5) leg stump. Rahul Tewatia (14) and Arshad Khan (20) treated the
fans in Ahmedabad for a few maximums but could not provide much relief as both
fell to Noor Ahmad, who moved past Prasidh Krishna to grab the Purple Cap worn
by the leading wicket-taker.
Kamboj was reintroduced into attack in the penultimate over
and claimed his third, and final, wicket of the match by dismissing Sai Kishore
to seal the 83-run victory.
Earlier, in the first innings, Ayush Mhatre gave his side a
strong start, which included 28 runs off Arshad Khan in the second over before
a slower-fullish delivery by Prasidh Krishna saw the 17-year-old try and get
under it but mistiming it straight to Siraj at mid-off to end his 17-ball
blitz.
Urvish Patel started his innings strongly with a six off Siraj
before Conway struck Prasidh for consecutive boundaries to tie CSK’s highest
power-play score for the season with 68/1 in the six overs.
Sai Kishore dismissed Patel after being hit for a six on the
first ball of the 10th over as the natter sliced the ball to Gill at extra
cover. Shivam Dube did not take too long to get going and smashed Kishore for a
six, straight down the ground, to get off the mark.
With Conway getting closer to his fifty, Shahrukh Khan
dismissed Dube to claim his first wicket in the tournament. A full-length ball,
angled towards the batter's pads, saw Gerald Coetzee take a simple catch.
The Kiwi batter reached his 11th tournament half-century
with a six off Rashid, in 34 deliveries, in an innings laced with six
boundaries and two maximums, before being bowled over on the next delivery.
While Ravindra Jadeja rotated the strike, Dewald Brevis kept
CSK on course for a huge total. A maximum off Rashid, a six and four off
Coetzee, followed by a reverse sweep boundary off Arshad, saw CSK reach the
200-run mark with two overs to spare.
From there, the Proteas batter switched gears and smashed
Siraj for consecutive sixes before finding the boundary, and the backward point
saw Brevis score his second half-century of the season in 19 deliveries.
Prasidh continued his economical bowling in the final over,
barring one six, and went for nine runs before a short ball, on the final
delivery of the innings, saw Brevis edge the ball, which went straight up, and
Jos Buttler made no mistake in completing the catch.
CSK will be relieved to end the season with a victory,
unfortunately, they could not elevate their net run-rate to move past the
Rajasthan Royals and confirmed their bottom-placed finish for the first time in
franchise history.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 230/5 in 20 overs (Dewald Brevis 57,
Devon Conway 52; Prasidh Krishna 2-22, Rashid Khan 1-42) beat Gujarat Titans
147 all out in 18.3 overs (Sai Sudharsan 41, Arshad Khan 20; Anshul Kamboj
3-13, Noor Ahmad 3-21, Ravindra Jadeja 2-17) by 83 runs
