IPL 2023 final: Chennai Super Kings clinch fifth title, win against Gujarat Titans by 5 wickets
The final is believed to be Chennai skipper MS Dhoni’s last match as thousands of fans have returned to the stadium wearing the yellow jersey of the superstar
A man who was once ridiculed as the bits and pieces cricketer, Ravindra Jadeja (15 not out off 6 balls) was the Chennai Super Kings and MS Dhoni’s saviour with two stunning shots in the final two deliveries to bring the CSK its fifth Indian Premier League title.
In the most dramatic IPl final of all time, CSK chased down the revised target of 171 in 15 overs, on the final ball of the innings, to beat the Gujarat Titans by five wickets.
Earlier, the Titans, riding on a brilliant 47-ball 96 from Sai Sudharsan, made 214 for four.
But after a two-hour rain interruption, Chennai was given a revised target of 171 in 15 overs.
Devon Conway (47), Shivam Dube (32 not out), Ajinkya Rahane (27) played their part in the chase well, but it came down to the final two balls of the innings with Chennai needing 10 against pacer Mohit Sharma.
Jadeja rose to the challenge with a straight six and a four towards the fine leg boundary to complete a stunning win for the CSK.
Earlier Sudharsan led the charge with a terrific 96 as defending champions Gujarat Titans set Chennai Super Kings an imposing target of 215.
Sudharsan struck eight fours and six sixes to make his runs from a mere 46 balls, forging crucial partnerships along the way and helping GT find its feet in the summit clash, after Shubman Gill perished for 39 and Wriddhiman Saha failed to go beyond his half-century.
A big moment arrived in the game as early as in the second over when Tushar Deshpande had Gill flicking a delivery on the leg side, as if executing a well-planned delivery, but with no success.
Deepak Chahar, positioned at short fine leg, spilled a regulation chance but Gill also could not hurt CSK the way he did Mumbai Indians a few nights ago, here.
Saha piled further pressure on the bowler, collecting 16 runs off the third over and providing the Titans momentum.
Gill followed with three consecutive fours off Deshpande, but Chahar’s poor luck continued when spilled a tough return catch off Saha’s bat.
The two drops indeed proved costly as GT reached 62 for no loss after the powerplay.
However, the brilliance of Dhoni ended Gill’s sensational IPL with the bat, stumping the batter for a 20-ball 39 (7x4s) off Ravindra Jadeja (4-0-38-1) in the seventh over.
With 890 runs in 17 matches with three centuries and four fifties, an average of 59.33 and strike rate of 157.80, the 23-year-old Gill finished with the second best performance for any batter in IPL history.
Saha brought up his second fifty of this IPL in the 13th over but his 64-run stand with B Sai Sudharsan ended in the 14th over, with Chahar getting him caught by Dhoni.
Saha hit five fours and a six to make 54 from 39 balls.
The second highest run-scorer for Gujarat Titans this season, Sudharsan accelerated to his third fifty in this IPL, bringing it up with consecutive fours off Matheesha Pathirana.
The young left-handed batter from Chennai recovered well from a sedate start to accelerate after the 14th-over mark, hitting three fours and a six off Deshpande and two sixes against Theekshana.
In fact, Sudharsan was on 36 from 25 balls when Saha was dismissed, and on the next 21 balls he faced, the 21-year-old former CSK academy alumni smacked 60 runs.
However, in the final over, Sudharsan’s carnage ended as Pathirana pinned him in front of the wickets for his first breakthrough in the game.
GT skipper Hardik Pandya scored an unbeaten 12-ball 21.
Brief scores
Gujarat Titans 214/4 (Sai Sudharsan 96, Wriddhiman Saha 54, Shubman Gill 39; Matheesha Pathirana 2/44)
Chennai Super Kings 171/5 in 15 overs (revised target) (Devon Conway 47, Shivam Dube 32 not out, Ajinkya Rahane 27, Ravindra Jadeja 15 not out; Mohit Sharma 3/36)
