Match reversed in 19th over
Gujarat needed 30 runs in the last three overs to win. In the 18th over, Dhoni handed the ball over to young debutant fast bowler Rajvardhan Hungergekar, who dismissed set batsman Vijay Shankar (27 off 21 balls) for just seven runs. Chennai were 156/5 after 18 overs and Gujarat needed 23 runs in two overs to win. Here Dhoni reposed faith in his most experienced bowler Deepak Chahar, but Chahar proved to be expensive. When he got a leg-bye four on the second ball, Rashid Khan reduced the run difference by hitting a six on the fourth and a four on the fifth. After this costly over of 15 runs, Chennai had only eight runs left to defend in the last over.
Ruturaj’s 92 runs went in vain
Earlier, Ruturaj Gaikwad of Chennai Super Kings scored the first half-century of IPL. He missed his century by just eight runs. He scored 92 runs off 50 balls. He batted stoutly amid wickets falling continuously from one end, due to which the team was able to post a respectable score of 178 for seven in the first match of the season against Gujarat Titans. Apart from Gaikwad, the rest of the Chennai batsmen failed. It can be gauged from this that Moin Ali (23 runs) made the biggest contribution after him.