The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) has become the title-holder of the IPL trophy for the 5th time after defeating Gujarat Titans (GT) by 5 wickets in CSK vs GT finale of IPL 2023 held at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad.
Today, it was D-day of the much coveted final match of IPL 2023, Chennai Super Kings vs Gujarat Titans (CSK vs GT) at Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad. Due to heavy showers yesterday, the final match got delayed and was rescheduled for 29th May as announced by IPL media advisory. Since the weather conditions were fine today, a high voltage game commenced with Gujarat Titans batting first after losing the toss.
CSK vs GT : How Gujarat Titans Started-off?
Ace batters Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha gave a flying start to GT with a 67-run partnership for the first wicket in just 7 overs. Though dropped twice by Deepak Chahar, Gill could not grab the opportunity to his advantage and got stumped out by Captain Cool on an unpredictable spin by Ravindra Jadeja. Gill departured for 39 off 20, a much lesser score with respect to finals. But this did not hinder Hardik Pandya-led side from scoring runs consistently. The duo of Wriddhiman Saha & Sai Sudarshan further added 64 runs to the total and at a score of 131/1 (14 overs), Saha got caught by MS Dhoni on a slower ball by Deepak Chahar.
After 15 overs, GT stood at 143/2 and from hereon, required a big partneship between Sudarshan and Captain Pandya which could bring them closer to a target of 200 runs. Interestingly, a total of 200 has been scored only once in the history of IPL finals in 2014 when KKR scored 200/7 while chasing a target of 199 set by PBKS.
Soon, Sai Sudarshan hit his 3rd fifty of the tournament in just 33 balls and the duo added 39 runs in the next 3 overs to reach 182/2 in 18 overs. At this stage, both Sudarshan & Pandya shifted the gears and started dealing in boundaries, thereby hitting 18 runs in a single over of pacer Tushar Deshpande. The last over by Matheesha Pathirana was a roller coaster as Sai Sudarshan required 10 runs his first ever ton on the remaining six balls. After the duo hit two sixes of the first three balls, Sudarshan got leg before wicket on Pathirana’s yorker, thereby falling short of just four runs to reach his first century.
On the last ball, Rashid Khan, the new comer on the crease, hit the ball high which could not reach the boundary and fell in the hands of Ruturaj Gaikwad which ended GT’s innings at 214/4 which is the highest-ever total in the finals of IPL history.
CSK vs GT : Rain interrupted again
In the second innings, just after the first three balls, rain made its first appearance of the day but ended in a light drizzle. Though, the rain was short lived, it made the playing conditions unfavourable for the bowling side as the pitch got soggy and the outfield got much wet. This could have made it difficult for bowlers and fielders to hold the wet ball and on the contrary, made it easier for batters to score runs due to much quicker outfield.
CSK vs GT : Targets Revised for CSK
After several inspections by the match umpires, a 15-over match was decided to be played with a revised target of 171 runs for CSK. Because of this, each bowler could now bowl only a maximum of 3 overs and the power play limit was also revised to 4 overs. The top notch CSK batters, Ruturaj Gaikwad & Devon Conway gave CSK a dream start where the duo hit 74 runs in 6.2 overs when on the following delivery Gaikwad got out by Noor Ahmad. CSK got another set back when they lost the wicket of the in-form batter Devon Conway in a gap of just three balls by Ahmad at a score of 78/2.
Now, two new batters Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane had the responsibility to take CSK further in order to remain in the game. The duo added 39 runs to the total to reach 117 runs when Rahane got caught by Vijay Shankar on a delivery by seamer Mohit Sharma. From hereon, Ambati Rayudu took the charge and hit a quick 19 off 9 balls by hitting two sixes and a boundary before he got caught and bowled by Sharma. On the very next delivery, Captain Dhoni got out by Sharma. This put CSK in a great trouble as now they required 22 runs off 13 balls.
CSK vs GT : How CSK clinched a victory
The last over by Mohit Sharma became a real thriller as CSK required 14 off the 6 balls. Both Dube and Jadeja could hardly score 4 runs off the first 4 balls which turned the match into a nail-biter as CSK required 10 runs off the last 2 balls. Under this high pressure situation, Jadeja hit a straight sixer which gave a sense of relief to CSK as now they needed 4 runs off the last ball. Captain kept his eyes closed as Sharma delivered his last ball on which Jadeja smashed a magical boundary which led to CSK’s enthralling win over GT by 5 wickets.
CSK vs GT : IPL 2023 Finale Match Results
Gujarat Titans (GT) : 214/4 (20 overs)
- Sai Sudarshan : 96 (47)
- Wriddhiman Saha : 54 (39)
- Matheesha Pathirana : 2/44 (4)
- Ravindra Jadeja : 1/38 (4)
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) : 171 (15 overs) (DLS Method)
- Devon Conway : 47 (25)
- Shivam Dube : 32* (21)
- Mohit Sharma : 3/36 (3)
- Noor Ahmad : 2/17 (3)
CSK won the toss and decided to field first
CSK vs GT : Match Awards
Player of the Match :
Devon Conway (CSK) – 47 (25)
Upstox Most Valuable Player of the Match :
Sai Sudarshan (GT) – 96 (47)
RuPay ON-The-Go 4s of the Match :
Sai Sudarshan (GT) – 96 (47)
Visit Saudi Beyond The Boundaries Longest 6 of the Match :
Sai Sudarshan (GT) – 97 metres
Herbal Life Active Catch of the Match :
MS Dhoni