GT win
This has been a very special performance from the Titans. Their batting unit was putting up all the wrong numbers - lowest run-rate, fewest fifties, rock bottom on sixes and way too many balls taken between boundaries. The set every one of those metrics right. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan scored the IPL's 100th and 101st centuries and that in the end was the difference. The rate at which they scored - in the six overs between the 9th and the 14th, they amassed 100 runs. That kind of accelaration paired with taking three wicktes in the first two overs really tells. CSK's hopes of making the playoffs has taken a big hit, with Delhi Capitals, Lucknow Super Giants and RCB all hot on their tail
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CSK fading
But the flags are out because Dhoni's out there. There's been a bit of talk around his fitness. And at 42 he's probably pushing himself harder than he has ever had before to live up to his own words from last season, when he said he'd go one more time.
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Mohit's double-strike jolts CSK's chase
Mitchell throws his head back in disappointment. Coach Fleming has his hands on his head. Mitchell is gone for 63 off 34 balls.
Mohit's second ball on the night is a clever knuckle ball into the pitch at 114.4ks. Mitchell doesn't pick it and doesn't hold his shape for long enough. He skies it to SRK at long-off. CSK are 119 for 4 in the 13th over.
In his next over, Mohit has Moeen holing out for 56 to puncture CSK's chase. They need 97 off 34 balls.
ICYMI: Gill is off the field because of cramps. Tewatia is the stand-in GT captain
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Moeen, Daz attack spin
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CSK loot 20 runs off left-arm wristspinner's second over. Moeen bashes him for three successive sixes.
In the next over, Daz Mitchell takes Rashid for a four and six to start the over. Mitchell is picking Rashid's variations fairly well but Moeen seems to be struggling against GT's ace spinner. CSK are 119 for 3 in 12 overs. Chase on?
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Mitchell, Moeen counter GT's early strikes
Mitchell is doing Mitchell things: pumping the ball down the ground.
He was particularly severe on Warrier, taking him for 20 off nine balls. Then, when Tyagi bowled a decent full ball on the stumps, Mitchell smashed it straight past him for four more.
It prompted Tyagi to shift his length shorter. Mitchell was shaping to pull but checked his shot at the last instant and ramps it over the keeper's head.
Moeen has also got off to a quick start. GT, meanwhile, are holding back their ace spinner Rashid for Dhoni and Jadeja. CSK are 77 for 3 in nine overs.
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Are CSK missing the Fizz?
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Make that 10 for 3...
...as Gaikwad holes out to one of the only two men on the boundary for a duck. Rashid loses his balance as he shapes to take the catch at the square-leg boundary. But he has the presence of mind to toss the ball up in the air, recover, and then snaffle the catch with his outstretched right hand. The TV umpire confirms that it's a clean catch.
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CSK are 2 for 2 inside 2 overs
Miller nails a direct hit to run Ravindra out for 1 on the last ball of the first over. Sandeep Warrier, who has replaced Sai Sudharsan as an Impact Player, draws a leading edge from Rahane, which is taken by Tewatia at mid-off. Warrier wins the battle of Impact Players.
Warrier then greets Mitchell with a bumper. CSK have their task cut out.
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GT set CSK 232
At one point, 250 or even 260 looked a frighteningly realistic prospect for GT. But CSK have done well at the death to restrict them to 231 for 3. Deshpande and Thakur were impressing with their defensive bowling, hiding the ball away from the hitting arcs of the GT batters. The two seamers had combined figures of 8-0-58-2. Just 41 runs off the last five overs. Just one boundary in the last three overs.
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Hundreds for ShubSu
Shubman Gill and B Sai Sudharsan are no Travishek. They're more orthodox batters, but they've been just as brutal with their hitting this evening in Ahmedabad.
Gill was the first to get to his hundred off 50 balls. In the same over, Sudharsan joined him there off 50 balls too. They've hit the IPL's 100th and 101st tons.
Just when it looked like there would be no stopping them, Sai and Gill hole out in a space of five balls. Deshpande has done a fine job for his team tonight, coming away with 4-0-33-2. But ShubSu walk away with the joint-highest opening stand in the IPL.
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What have you done Deshpande?
He has dropped Gill at long-off on 72 off Mitchell, who is left seething. What's worse? Deshpande has parried the ball over the boundary.
CSK appear to have lost the plot in Ahmedabad. Gill then crunches Mitchell flat and hard over extra-cover for six more. Why are CSK having one of their weaker fielders manning the hotspots?
In the absence of Pathirana, Mustafizur and Chahar, their bowling attack also seems weak. Gaikwad turned to Mitchell, but he was also dispatched for runs. Mitchell finishes with 4-0-52-0.
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Gill brings up a fifty of his own
The GT captain reaches the landmark by shovelling Simarjeet Singh for a six over long leg. Gill has got there off just 25 balls. He celebrates the landmark by flat-batting a four straight past Simarjeet for four more.
Mind you, it wasn't a bad ball again from Simarjeet. But Gill is so gifted that he can make good balls like so very bad.
It's just the 11th over of the innings, but Gill and Sai have forced CSK into doing death bowling. Daz Mitchell was bowling wide cutters away from the swinging arcs, while Simarjeet is now bowling wide yorkers with a packed off-side field.
Can GT reach 250 in front of their home crowd? The ball is flying in Ahmedabad.
Our statsguru Sampath Bandarupalli has dug this out for you
Fewest innings to 1000 runs at a venue in men's T20s:
19 - Shubman Gill, Ahmedabad
22 - Chris Gayle, Bengaluru
22 - David Warner, Hyderabad
22 - Aaron Finch, The Oval
22 - Babar Azam, Rawalpindi
22 - Mohammad Rizwan, Karachi
Fewest innings to 1000 runs at a venue in men's T20s:
19 - Shubman Gill, Ahmedabad
22 - Chris Gayle, Bengaluru
22 - David Warner, Hyderabad
22 - Aaron Finch, The Oval
22 - Babar Azam, Rawalpindi
22 - Mohammad Rizwan, Karachi
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Fifty for Sai Su
He played an absolute blinder the last time these two sides met in Ahmedabad, in that final. He has grown from strength to strength since. He had a stint with Surrey, with some help from Vikram Solani, GT's director of cricket, and won the LV= Insurance County Championship title with them. He then went onto make his international debut for India.
It initially looked like he was riding in Gill's slipstream, but he has accelerated to a 32-ball half-century. Jadeja is left nursing figures of 2-0-29-0. The presence of Sudharsan at the top and Miller in the middle can help GT counter CSK's left-arm fingerspinners.
Along the way, Sudharsan (25 innings) has become the fastest Indian to 1000 IPL runs. He goes past Tendulkar (31 innings) and Gaikwad (31 innings).
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Gill and Sudharsan keep up the good work
They have added 58 together in the first six overs. Only once have GT scored more runs in the powerplay in IPL 2024, when they had hit 67 against DC in Delhi last month.
Gill, in particular, is looking in sublime touch. Simarjeet Singh bowls a blameless back-of-a-length delivery just outside off in the last over of the powerplay. But Gill makes it look like a bad ball by swatting it over mid-on for six. Already the shot of the day for me.
In the next over, Gill short-arm jabs Jadeja between deep midwicket and wide long-on for four more. Sudharsan is also ticking along nicely at the other end. GT are 72 for 0 in seven overs.
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Gill, Sudharsan start strong for GT
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This is the first over bowled by Mitch Santner. The left-arm fingerspinner started by bowling away-swinging arm balls to the left-handed Sai Sudharsan. But Gill shows more attacking enterprise and picks him away for a square-driven four and a lofted six over mid-on.
Santner has been pulled out of the attack after just one over. Thakur gets the new-ish ball and Sudharsan greets him with a lofted six of his own. The ball flies over the extra-cover boundary. GT are 32 for 3 in three overs.
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CSK opt to bowl; GT bring in Tyagi
2 No of tosses Gaikwad has won in 12 games this IPL
Stop the press. Gaikwad finally wins a toss.Deepak Chahar, who didn't travelled to Dharamsala, has linked up with the CSK side in Ahmedabad, but it appears like he isn't fit to return to action. CSK make one change: Ravindra replaces Gleeson.
Two changes for GT. Gill says that Saha is out injured, so Wade returns to the team. Little makes way for Tyagi.
CSK XI: 1 Ruturaj Gaikwad(capt), 2 Rachin Ravindra, 3 Daz Mitchell, 4 Shivam Dube, 5 Moeen Ali, 6 Ravindra Jadeja, 7 MS Dhoni(wk),8 Mitchell Santner,9 Shardul Thakur,10 Tushar Deshpande, 11 Simarjeet Singh
Impact Subs bench: Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Aravelly Avanish, Sameer Rizvi, Mukesh Choudhary
GT XI: 1 Shubman Gill (capt), 2 B Sai Sudharsan, 3 M Shahrukh Khan, 4 David Miller, 5 Matthew Wade (wk), 6 Rahul Tewatia, 7 Rashid Khan, 8 Noor Ahmad, 9 Umesh Yadav, 10 Mohit Sharma, 11 Kartik Tyagi
Impact Subs bench: Abhinav Manohar, Sandeep Warrier, BR Sharath, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav
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Is Gaikwad taking special coaching to win a toss?
Gaikwad has lost 10 out of 11 tosses so far in IPL 2024. "Even his wife has had something to say" about his wretched luck at the toss. Can he turn it around in Ahmedabad today?
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Hello, folks
This is what happened when CSK faced GT the last time in Ahmedabad in the IPL 2023 final. It was a chaotic three-day T20 final, remember? It's all history now. A lot has changed with the two teams since. The bottom-placed GT are hoping not to capsize today. A loss today will put them out of contention for the knockouts. CSK, on the other hand, are better-placed than GT to make the playoffs, but they need to win to simplify their passage to Ahmedabad again for the qualifiers. Can they cope with the absence of their first-choice fast bowlers Pathirana, Mustafizur and Chahar?
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