CHENNAI: The stark contrast in Powerplay efficiency proved decisive as Gujarat Titans dismantled Chennai Super Kings by eight wickets at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Sunday.The stars of the show were South African paceman Kagiso Rabada (3-25), who broke the back of the CSK top-order, and in-form ‘home boy’ B Sai Sudharsan (87,46 balls; 4×4, 7×6), whose orthodox strokeplay propelled GT to fifth on the table with eight points.
CSK now have six from eight and their hopes of a last-four berth are fast diminishing.The tone was set early when the Titans’ pace duo of Rabada and Mohammed Siraj ripped through the hosts with a ferocious opening spell on a rare lively Chepauk surface, restricting them to a paltry 28-3 in the Powerplay. On the other hand, GT’s openers mastered the two-paced conditions, during their chase of a tricky 159. Captain Shubman Gill (33) and Sudharsan helped the Titans race to 55-0 in the first six overs, effectively seizing control despite a disciplined opening from Anshul Kamboj, who conceded just 3 runs in his first two overs.Sudharsan continued his stellar run this season and remained unfazed even after losing Gill in the seventh over. His innings, marked by control and clean striking, was studded with seven sixes and four fours. The youngster and the No. 3 batter Jos Buttler, hardly put a foot wrong and went on to stitch a 97-run partnership for the second wicket. With CSK’s attack offering little resistance, the duo turned the chase into a formality, finishing it off with 20 balls to spare.
However, Rababa and Siraj set up the win under the sweltering sun. They bent their backs, got bounce off the Chepauk surface, occasionally pitching one up, making it difficult for the CSK openers Sanju Samson and Ruturaj Gaikwad.Rabada’s clinical double-strike, pounding in at 148–149 kph, removed the man in form Samson and Urvil Patel, playing his first game of this IPL. Siraj followed up with a cross-seamer to send back the ‘Impact Player’ Sarfaraz Khan for a golden duck, and suddenly skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad (74*, 60b; 4×6, 6×4) was watching his side crumble before the Powerplay had even run its course.The nightmare only deepened as the bowlers forced a suffocating dry spell. There were no boundaries for five overs, and the pressure mounted when left-arm spinner Manav Suthar dismissed Dewald Brevis just as he looked to break the shackles. By the time CSK crawled to 50 in 12 overs, they had recorded their second-slowest team fifty in IPL history and the slowest by any side this season. With the innings stalling at a precarious 43-3 at the halfway stage, Gaikwad finally took charge and played a gritty knock.
He began shifting gears slowly and stitched together a recovery with useful cameos from Shivam Dube, Kartik Sharma, and Jamie Overton. En route, he brought up a much-needed half-century -his first in 11 IPL innings and his first this season -on a surface that remained far from easy for batters. In a frantic penultimate over burst, Overton hammered four consecutive boundaries off Arshad Khan to inject momentum as the hosts collected 107 runs in the final eight overs. However, the early damage proved too great to overcome, as the recovery ultimately fell short against GT’s well-settled top order.
