Sai Sudharsan showed what consistency is all about as he joined an elite list of players to score 5 consecutive fifties in IPL. Sai Sudharsan showed his class out there and got the Orange Cup again with his 84 off 53 balls helping GT dumping out CSK from the playoffs race. Put into bat first, GT rode on Sai Sudharsan’s 84, captain Shubman Gill’s 64 off 37 balls and Jos Buttler’s 57 off 27 balls to post a massive 229/4 in 20 overs that put the game beyond doubt.
In reply, CSK collapsed like a pack of cards with Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, and Rashid Khan picking up 3 wickets apiece while there was a run out as well. Shivam Dube with his 47 off 17 balls threatened a bit for CSK but the Men in Yellow went down by a whopping 89 runs to bow out of the tournament. GT are peaking at the right time.
GT’s Top 3 Blazes Away To Post A Massive 229/4 in 20 overs
Put into bat first, Sai Sudharsan and captain Shubman Gill came out to bat for GT while Mukesh Choudhary had the ball in hand for CSK. The openers came out all guns blazing and put pressure on CSK. Shubman Gill was the aggressor in the power play while Sai played the perfect role of anchor and got his eye in. Gill kept up the tempo and dominated the CSK bowling which looked less penetrative and all over the place.
GT scored a solid 62 runs for the loss of 0 wickets in the power play overs. The duo were not done there as they went onto ace the middle phase as well. Gill completed his fifty and then rode his luck as on 51*, he got a faint nick to the keeper of Gurjapneet Singh. But no one appealed and so, he survived for now. The duo carried on and brought up the 100 in 9.1 overs and the platform was set for a huge total for GT. It was just one way traffic in Ahmedabad.
CSK tried their best in patches to pull things back but it was to no avail as the duo played past 12 overs. The duo as it turned out put on 125 for the first wicket in 12.2 overs before Gill was the first to depart for 64 off 37 balls with 7 fours and 3 sixes to his name to Spencer Johnson. Keeper batter Jos Buttler came out to bat next with the platform set for his type of batting and got off the mark with a boundary with a glance through fine leg region.
Sai Sudharsan and Buttler joined forces to forge a partnership as Sai had crossed 51 by the time Gill left him. Buttler started quickly off the blocks while Sai also took on the role and became the senior partner. He decided to up the ante after reaching fifty while Buttler too joined in the fun. CSK had no answers to this onslaught that was on from both players as the top 3 came to the party for GT. The duo took them past the 200-run mark.
Sudharsan and Buttler put on 82 runs for the second wicket in good time before Sai the well set batter and CSK hunter finally fell for 84 off 53 balls with 7 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Anshul Kamboj. Rahul Tewatia came to the crease and fell first ball trying to take a single and was run out at the bowler’s end. The score remained at 207 when this wicket fell. Washington Sundar came out to bat next.
Sundar came and managed to hit a maximum to his name. But Buttler was there and completed his half-century as the top 3 of GT made merry in Ahmedabad. Buttler added 22 runs with Sundar before Sundar fell off final ball of the innings for 7 off 3 balls with one six to his name to Mukesh Choudhary. Buttler remained unbeaten on 57 off 27 balls with 5 fours and 4 sixes to his name as GT finished with a massive and imposing 229/4 in 20 overs. 17 extras gifted by the CSK bowlers which included 13 wides as well.
It was a hard toil for the CSK bowlers tonight in Ahmedabad. Mukesh Chouhdary finished with 1/36 in 4 overs. Spencer Johnson finished with 1/47 in 4 overs. Anshul Kamboj finished with 1/56 in 4 overs. Gurjapneet Singh finished with 0/31 in 4 overs and could have had a wicket. Noor Ahmad finished with 0/41 in 3 overs. Shivam Dube’s only over went for 15 runs. This meant CSK’s target was 230 runs in 20 overs to keep their slim hopes of playoff alive.
All-round bowling display led by Mohammed Siraj skittled CSK out for 140 in 13.4 overs
Chasing a massive 230 for the win, keeper batter Sanju Samson and Matthew Short came out to bat for CSK while Mohammed Siraj had the ball in hand for GT. GT got off to the perfect start as Samson was nicked off through to the keeper for a golden duck by Mohammed Siraj. Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad came out to bat next at 3. Gaikwad showed a lot of intent out there and hit a couple of sixes and a boundary in his brief stay. The duo put on 29 runs for the second wicket before Gaikwad fell for 16 off 7 balls with one four and two sixes to his name clean bowled by Siraj.
Urvil Patel came out to bat next and fell for a silver duck as Siraj had two in the over. Impact Player Kartik Sharma came out to bat next. Kartik played a few shots as the man was in tremendous form coming into this game. The duo added 22 runs for the fourth wicket as the 50 came up inside 5 overs before Matthew Short fell for 24 off 14 balls with 3 fours and one six to his name as CSK loses 4 inside the power play.
Dewald Brevis came out to bat next. CSK were 58/4 in 6 overs of power play. Kartik and Brevis added 12 runs for the 5th wicket before Kartik the impact player was dismissed for 19 off 15 balls with 3 fours to his name through a run out from Shubman Gill. Shivam Dube came out to bat with CSK having lost half their side for 63 in 7 overs. Dube then came in and decided to counter attack the GT bowling.
It was briefly the Shivam Dube show in Ahmedabad as the tall lanky southpaw decided to entertain the crowd. Brevis was a mere spectator while Dube was on fire. It was sixes, boundaries or wickets for CSK in this innings. The duo added a quickfire 53 runs off 21 balls with Dube scoring 47 runs in that. Dube was looking good but they had to go for it and that was one shot too many. The score reached 116 in the 11th over before Dube fell for 47 off 17 balls with 4 fours and 4 sixes to his name to Rashid Khan.
Anshul Kamboj came out to bat next and started hitting it big by getting off the mark with the maximum and then played a quickfire cameo. Brevis was not getting any strike at all. Brevis and Kamboj added a further 20 runs in which Kamboj had 19 off them. The score was 136 when Kamboj fell for 19 off 8 balls with 1 four and 2 sixes to his name to Rashid. Noor Ahmad came out to bat next. Then the wickets started to fall like nine pins for CSK. Just 2 runs were added to the tally before Brevis the last recognised batter fell for 8 off 10 balls to Rashid.
Mukesh Choudhary came out to bat and got off the mark as well. Just 2 runs were added to the score before Noor fell for 1 off 5 balls to Kagiso Rabada. Spencer Johnson came out to bat next. Johnson fell first ball to a golden duck off Rabada thanks to an excellent review by the GT team as he was out caught behind. Mukesh remained unbeaten on 2 off 2 balls as CSK were bowled out for 140 in 13.4 overs. 4 extras given by the fielding side.
GT were terrific with the ball in hand. Mohammed Siraj finished with 3/26 in 3 overs. Kagiso Rabada chipped in with 3/32 in 3.4 overs. Rashid Khan finished with 3/18 in 2 overs. Arshad Khan finished with 0/24 in 2 overs. Jason Holder finished with 0/27 in 2 overs. Prasidh Krishna finished with 0/13 in 1 over. So, GT thrashes CSK by 89 runs to solidify top 2 position and knocks CSK out of the playoffs race. Mohammed Siraj was awarded the Player of the Match.
What Lies Ahead
So, GT finished with 18 points and in second place at the moment and almost sure of a top two spot. CSK have now been knocked out of the competition. We will get a confirmation of the top 2 after tomorrow night as SRH hosts RCB in Hyderabad where the Orange Army needs a big win to come into the top 2 picture. Let’s see as RCB looks comfortable out there. Interesting match coming our way there.
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