Opener Shubman Gill was in tremendous form, scoring 63 runs off just 36 deliveries, smashing six boundaries and three maximums.
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The first match of the 2023 Indian Premier League (IPL) saw defending champions Gujarat Titans (GT) defeat four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by five wickets. GT skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and put the men in yellow to bat first. After dismissing Devon Conway early, the Titans were hammered by a barrage of incredible shots which saw him score 92 runs off 50 deliveries. None of the other Chennai batters could make a good score, but skipper MS Dhoni’s late knock helped the team reach 178 runs for the loss of seven wickets.
In reply, the Titans did a fantastic job of scoring 182 runs for the loss of just five wickets with four deliveries to spare. Opener Shubman Gill was in tremendous form, scoring 63 runs off just 36 deliveries. Gill smashed six boundaries and three maximums. Wriddhiman Saha got them off to a flyer, scoring a quickfire 25 before impact player Sai Sudarshan smashed 22 off 17.
The Titans’ middle order really held their own, despite skipper Hardik Pandya failing to perform. Vijay Shankar scored 27 runs off 21 balls. Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan remained unbeaten on 15 and 10 runs respectively.
Rajvardhan Hangargekar made a massive impact in the first match of the season for CSK as he took three wickets for 36 runs in his four overs. Impact player Tushar Deshpande bagged a scalp but went for 51 runs in 3.2 overs, and all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja recorded numbers of 1-28 in four overs.
CSK fought their way to the competitive total of 178/7 in 20 overs after GT skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and elected to field. The men in yellow lost the wicket of Devon Conway at just 14 runs. The Kiwi disappointed as he could only make one run after facing six deliveries. However, young Indian opener Ruturaj Gaikwad held the fort and steadied the CSK ship as he made an outstanding 92 off just 50 deliveries in an innings that consisted of four fours and nine maximums.
England all-rounder Moeen Ali played a decent cameo at number three, scoring 23 runs off 17 deliveries in which he hit four boundaries and one maximum. none of the other Chennai batters could really get going as Ambati Rayudu and Shivam Dube were the only ones who got into doubles figures. It seemed like CSK would not breach the 170-run mark, but then came skipper MS Dhoni.
Captain cool might not have had a lot of deliveries to play but he did what he does better than anybody, finish in an explosive fashion. Dhoni hit one boundary and one maximum to score an unbeaten 14 runs off just seven deliveries to get his team to quite a competitive total.
The GT bowlers did a good job of keeping the CSK score in check. Four different bowlers collected Chennai scalps for Hardik Pandya’s men and out of them, Rashid Khan had the best numbers. The Afghan spinner took two wickets and conceded only 26 runs. Veteran pacer Mohammad Shami and Alzarri Joseph also bagged a couple of wickets for 29 and 33 runs respectively.
