David Miller’s scintillating half-century and skipper Rashid Khan’s stormy innings helped Gujarat Titans thrash Chennai Super Kings by three wickets in a thrilling encounter on Sunday to rise to the top of the points table. Chasing the Super Kings’ target of 170, Titans lost three for 16, but David Miller scored an unbeaten 94 off 51 balls with the help of eight fours and six sixes, apart from captain Rashid Khan (21 balls). 40 runs, two fours, three sixes) in a stormy 70-run partnership for the sixth wicket, helping the team win 170 for seven with one ball to spare.
For Super Kings, Dwayne Bravo took three for 23 while off-spinner Mahesh Teekshana took two wickets for 24 runs but could not win his team. Chris Jordan proved to be very expensive and conceded 58 runs in 3.5 overs.
Gujarat’s team has reached the top with 10 points from the fifth win in six matches. Super Kings team is in ninth place with two points. Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (73 runs in 48 balls, five sixes, five fours) and Ambati Rayudu (46 runs in 31 balls, four fours, two sixes) along with their 92-run partnership of the third wicket helped Super Kings take five wickets. But scored 169 runs. Captain Ravindra Jadeja finally scored an unbeaten 22 off 12 balls with two sixes.
The Titans, chasing the target, had a poor start and the team lost three wickets till the score of 16 runs. In the first over itself, Shubman Gill (00) caught Robin Uthappa off Chaudhary’s ball. Vijay Shankar (00) also caught the wicketkeeper Mahendra Singh Dhoni in an attempt to cut Mahesh’s delivery in the next over.
Abhinav Manohar (12) hit two fours in Chaudhary’s third over but in the next over, Mahesh was caught by Moeen Ali in cover. Titans scored 37 for three in the power play. Openers Wriddhiman Saha (11) and Miller then tried to handle the innings but skipper Jadeja reduced the score to 48 for four after Saha was caught by Gaikwad.
The half-century of the Titans’ runs was completed in the ninth over. Miller also hit a four in the same over of Moeen Ali. Miller then hit Moin for the first six of the innings and then hit Jadeja for two consecutive sixes and a four to complete his half-century in just 28 balls.
Jadeja gave the ball to Bravo in the 13th over and he gave the fifth blow to the Titans by getting Rahul Tewatia (06) caught by the captain. It was over maiden. The century of Titans’ runs was completed in the 15th over. Miller meanwhile hit two fours on Jordan and six on Bravo. The team needed 62 runs to win in the last five overs.
Miller hit his fifth six on Mahesh but only four runs came off Bravo’s 17th over. Titans needed 48 runs in the last three overs. Rashid bridged the gap between run and ball with three sixes and a four in successive deliveries from Jordan. 25 runs were scored in this over.
Rashid started with a four on Bravo but was caught by Moeen in the same over. Alzarri Joseph (00) was also caught by Jordan on the next ball. 10 runs in the over. 13 runs were needed in the last over to win. After Jordan’s first two balls were empty, Miller hit a six off the third ball. On the next full toss, Miller gave the catch to Chaudhary but the ball was no-balled due to being above the waist. Miller hit a four on the freehit and then gave the team victory with two runs off the fifth ball.
Earlier in the death overs, the Titans’ excellent performance by the bowlers, the Super Kings team could only add 45 runs in the last six overs despite 18 runs in the last over from Lockie Ferguson (46 for no wicket). Debutant Alzarri Joseph took two wickets for 34 runs while veteran Mohammed Shami took one wicket for just 20 runs in four overs.
Riding on Hardik Pandya’s groin injury, Rashid Khan, who was leading the Titans, won the toss and invited Super Kings to bat first, who lost the wicket of Uthappa (03) in the third over at the score of seven runs, who was leg-before Shami.
Gaikwad hit the first boundary of the innings on Shami in the third over and then hit six and four on fast bowler Yash Dayal (1 for 40). Joseph gave the second blow to the Super Kings by bowling Moeen Ali (01). Super Kings scored 39 for two in the power play.
Gaikwad welcomes Ferguson with a boundary and then hits Joseph for a six. Rayudu also hit a six in the same over of Joseph. Gaikwad completed his first IPL half-century of the season and career eighth in 37 balls with a run off Dayal.
Gaikwad hit his fourth six off Dayal while Rayudu hit the pacer with fours and a run to complete the team’s hundred in the 12th over. Rayudu was lucky on a personal score of 35 when Rashid failed to take his difficult catch at mid-off off Ferguson.
Rayudu hit a six on Rashid but was caught by Vijay Shankar off Joseph’s ball. Shami then lbw Shivam Dubey (19 off 17 balls) but the decision to go for the DRS went in the batsman’s favor as the ball hit the bat before hitting the pad. Gaikwad in the next over, trying to play a big shot on Dayal’s full toss, caught Abhinav Manohar on the boundary. On the first ball of Ferguson’s last over, Manohar dropped Dubey’s catch on the boundary and the ball went for four runs. Jadeja also hit two consecutive sixes in the over.