Gujarat Titans ended Chennai Super Kings’ slim playoff hopes in emphatic fashion with an 89-run win in Ahmedabad on Thursday night. The result also confirmed a top-two finish for GT as they closed their league-stage campaign in dominant style.
Gujarat Titans 229 for 4 (Sai Sudharsan 84, Gill 64, Buttler 57*, Choudhary 1-36) beat Chennai Super Kings 140 (Dube 47, Rashid 3-18, Siraj 3-26, Rabada 3-32) by 89 runs.
Asked to bat first on a red-soil pitch offering pace and bounce, GT attacked from the start and posted 229. Shubman Gill set the tone with a 23-ball half-century before B Sai Sudharsan made 84 off 53 and Jos Buttler added an unbeaten 57 from 27 balls.
CSK’s chase never settled. Their top five were dismissed inside seven overs, before Shivam Dube briefly gave the innings energy with a 17-ball 47. Once he fell, GT quickly ran through the lower order, with Rashid Khan helping bowl CSK out in the 14th over.
The Samson Miss
In the second over of the match, Sanju Samson left the field with a finger injury after Spencer Johnson’s hard-length ball down the leg side suddenly moved away after passing the batter. Samson immediately went off and did not return for the rest of the innings, with Kartik Sharma taking over wicketkeeping duties.
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Because of the nature of the on-field injury, Samson was allowed to bat in his original position. However, his stay lasted only one ball as he edged Mohammed Siraj’s away-going delivery in the opening over.
CSK Fined for Slow Over-Rate
Ruturaj Gaikwad was fined after CSK maintained a slow over-rate against Gujarat Titans.
As it was CSK’s second offence of the season, Gaikwad was fined INR 24 lakh. The other members of the Playing XI, including the impact player, were fined either INR 6 lakh or 25% of their match fees, whichever was lower.
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Siraj Makes Early Impact
Siraj struck with the first ball while defending 230, but Ruturaj Gaikwad responded by lofting him over cover and then walking across to scoop him for six. In Siraj’s next over, the CSK captain also whipped him over midwicket.
Siraj still had the final say. He removed Gaikwad with a length ball that jagged back in and hit the stumps.
One delivery later, he dismissed local favourite Urvil Patel, who top-edged a flick straight to Prasidh Krishna at deep backward square-leg.
CSK Collapse Again After Dube’s Burst
At the beginning of the ninth over, CSK were 72 for 5. Dube then needed only two overs to briefly lift the crowd.
After a difficult season, he attacked left-arm seamer Arshad Khan for 6, 4 and 4 in an over that cost 19 runs. He continued in the next over by sending Jason Holder’s hard-length delivery over long-on for six. When Holder went full, Dube used his reach to slice the ball behind square.
Overs 8 to 10 brought 37 runs for CSK. But after hitting Rashid over deep midwicket, Dube fell to the legspinner when Gill ran back from cover and completed a brilliant catch.
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CSK lost their final four wickets in the next three overs, with Rashid finishing with 3 for 18.
Gill and Sai Sudharsan Lead From the Top
Before his sharp catch and direct hit to run Kartik out, Gill had already made a major impact with the bat. He raced to a 23-ball fifty, while Sai Sudharsan played the supporting role early on.
Sai Sudharsan was run-a-ball after his first 22 deliveries as he and Gill brought up their seventh century opening stand, the most by an opening pair in IPL history.
Gill survived on 51 after feathering an attempted pull, with no appeal for caught behind from CSK. The missed chance did not prove too costly, as he was dismissed soon after for 64.
After Gill’s wicket, Sai Sudharsan continued strongly and completed his fifth consecutive IPL half-century, joining Virender Sehwag, David Warner and Buttler in achieving the feat.
Sai Sudharsan eventually fell for 84, but not before taking back the Orange Cap.
Buttler and Gurjapneet Stand Out
Buttler came in after Gill’s dismissal and started aggressively. He targeted Noor Ahmad in particular, sending him deep into the stands to quickly end a brief slowdown.
While GT attacked from one end, left-arm seamer Gurjapneet Singh kept things under control. He mixed cutters with wide yorkers and finished with figures of 4-0-31-0, with his final over costing 15 runs.
Buttler reached his half-century from 23 balls after cutting two attempted wide yorkers from Anshul Kamboj to the cover boundary.
Kamboj conceded 56 runs from his four overs and also gave away the most sixes in a single IPL season. CSK were left needing 230, a target they never looked close to threatening on the night.
