The Chennai Super Kings=Gujarat Titans IPL 2024 match turned out to be a run feast.
Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan stroked centuries as Gujarat Titans dominated with the bat, while veteran pacer Mohit Sharma sizzled with figures of 3/31 on a good wicket.
Mohit Sharma
Mohit Sharma finished off CSK's hopes with an inspirational spell in the middle overs.
Gujarat Titans delayed the introduction of their most experienced bowler Mohit, who came into the attack in the 13th over and he started making rapid inroads.
He took just two balls to strike as he dismissed Daryl Mitchell, who had smashed his way to 63 from 34 balls, to give the Titans big relief as the Kiwi was threatening to take the game away from the hosts.
Mohit's change of pace worked to perfection as Mitchell looking to play the lofted shot mistimed it to hole out a simple catch to the fielder at long-off.
In his next over, he struck again as he dismissed another well-set batter. Moeen Ali (56) also could not middle the pull shot and was taken at deep midwicket as Mohit dismantled CSK's run chase with two big wickets in the space of eight deliveries.
There was no stopping Mohit, who continued to chip away at the wickets. Shivam Dube's heave off a full toss went horribly wrong as he offered a simple catch to Noor Ahmad at deep mid wicket.
Mohit finished with excellent figures of 3/31 in his four overs as he played a huge role in pushing the Titans towards a big win.
Rashid Khan
Spin ace Rashid Khan bounced back after a poor start to finish with 2/38.
He suffered in his first spell of two overs as Daryl Mitchell hit him for a couple of fours and a six, conceding 20 in his first two overs. But the Afghan spinner redeemed himself remaining two overs at the end.
Coming back to bowl in the 18th over, Rashid's double strike proved fatal for CSK.
He got the wicket of Ravindra Jadeja caught at long on for 18 and then bowled Mitchell Santner with the quicker delivery which skidded straight on and struck the stumps.
Rashid conceded two runs while claiming two wickets in the 18th over to all but the seal the deal in Gujarat's favour.
Umesh Yadav
Veteran Umesh Yadav showed he is still a handful with the ball in T20 cricket.
Chasing 232 for victory, CSK were looking for a quickfire start but Umesh did well to concede just two runs in the opening over. The pressure of his tight bowling resulted in the run out of Rachin Ravindra off the last ball of the opening over, as Ajinkya Rahane called him for a non-existent single to David Miller at point.
Umesh bagged the biggest wicket of the night when he dismissed CSK Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad for a three-ball duck in his second over.
Gaikwad couldn't get the pull shot in the gap as he ended up hitting it straight to Rashid Khan at deep square leg. That was a big blow for CSK's hopes as they found themselves in a deep hole on 10/3 in three overs.
Umesh bowled three tight overs in the Powerplay, taking 1/20 and was surprisingly not called up to finish his spell in the closing stages.
Tushar Deshpande
CSK struggled to contain the Titans batters in the absence of their lead bowlers.
With Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan stroking centuries in a record 210 run stand for the opening wicket, the Titans looked set to bat CSK out of the contest.
Tushar Deshpande brought CSK back with his double strike in the 18th over -- dismissing both Gill and Sudharsan in his fourth over.
The slower ball did the trick as Sudharsan was way too early in the pull shot and ended up slicing the ball on the off side to be caught by Shivam Dube.
Gill also fell to the clever change of pace from the CSK pacer as he failed to middle the pull shot and was taken by Ravindra Jadeja at deep midwicket.
Not only did Deshpande take two wickets in the single over but also conceded just four runs in the 18th over. Courtesy of Deshpande, CSK were able to restrict Titans at the end, as they managed just 22 from the last three overs.
Deshpande had also kept a lid on the scoring during his two overs in the Powerplay when he gave away just 18 runs, to finish with impressive figures of 2/33 in four overs.
Shardul Thakur
Shardul Thakur didn't have any wickets to show for his good showing with the ball.
Titans piled on a massive 231/3, scoring at 11.5 in their 20 overs, but he stood out with his immaculate control on a dream pitch for the batters.
Thakur didn't have a great start to his spell, getting hit for a six and a boundary to concede 11 runs in his opening over but he bounced back well to give away just three runs in the fifth over, despite bowling in the Powerplay.
The experienced Thakur proved to be difficult to get away at the end. Bowling to Gill and Sudharsan in their 90s, Thakur bowled accurate yorkers on the line of the stumps to concede just six runs in the 16th over including a leg bye.
The two big-hitters David Miller and Shahrukh Khan also could not get the better of Thakur in the 19th over, who gave away six runs, including two dot balls.
Thakur finished with tidy figures of 25 runs from his four overs.
The last five overs yielded just 41 runs for Gujarat Titans and it was mainly due to Thakur and Deshpande's efforts.
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Photographs: BCCI
