 "IPL 2024: Dube blitz, Dhoni's stunning catch and other top moments from CSK's thumping victory over GT")
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) established their dominance and sent out a warning to rivals with a thumping 63-run victory over Gujarat Titans (GT) on Tuesday, collecting their second consecutive victory in the 2024 Indian Premier League (IPL) in the process.
It was supposed to be an epic showdown between the two heavyweights in a rematch of last year’s final, and the build-up to the clash would’ve centred around the Titans’ desire to exact revenge after their heart-breaking loss at the hands of the Super Kings in last year’s final.
Photos | CSK hammer GT by 63 runs to begin IPL title defence with back-to-back wins
The highly-anticipated match, however, would turn out to be something of a no-contest as Chennai would outplay Gujarat with bat as well as with ball, resulting in the latter suffering their biggest defeat by runs since making their debut in 2022.
CSK would end up with a total in excess of 200 while GT’s hopes had evaporated following a collapse in the middle overs coupled with the boundaries drying up thanks to some disciplined bowling. The match was a foregone conclusion well before the final delivery of the innings had been bowled, something rarely associated with a team as solid as the Titans.
CSK’s Net Run Rate (NRR) got a massive boost as a result of the dominant victory, and current reads +1.979 with the Ruturaj Gaikwad-led side sitting at the top of the table with two wins in as many outings. GT, on the other hand, dropped to the sixth spot with their NRR at -1.425.
Impact Shorts
More ShortsHad it not been for the bowling unit’s brave fightback in the death overs against Mumbai, Gujarat could’ve been sitting at the bottom of the table with consecutive defeats.
With the seventh match of the 17th season coming to an end, we take a look at some of the top moments from the CSK-GT encounter in Chepauk:
Ravindra carries on from where he left off
Breakout Kiwi star Rachin Ravindra has been having quite the maiden season in the Indian Premier League so far. Even though he’s yet to go past the fifty mark the two matches that he’s played so far, the manner in which he’s collected 83 runs certainly shows his potential to be a superstar of the game down the road.
After his 15-ball 37 in the season opener against RCB, Ravindra got the Super Kings off to a solid start once again, this time smashing 46 off just 20 balls. The 24-year-old tore both Umesh Yadav, GT’s final over hero in their thrilling win against MI, as well as Azmatullah Omarzai apart as Chennai raced to 62 for no loss inside six overs before he was stumped off Rashid Khan’s bowling to miss out on a maiden IPL fifty by a whisker.
Dube smashes his way to a blazing half-century
After finishing the game for the Super Kings against RCB with an unbeaten 34 off 28 deliveries, Dube delivered an even more destructive performance with the bat, blasting 51 off just 23 deliveries that included two fours and five sixes, which bagged him the ‘Player of the Match’ award in the end.
Dube, who is a strong contender for a spot in India’s middle-order in the upcoming T20 World Cup, teed off from the word go by smashing left-arm spinner Sai Kishore for back-to-back sixes as soon as he arrived at the centre.
The Mumbaikar would then assume charge once skipper Gaikwad had been dismissed for 46, and it was his domination of the GT attack that would go a long way in ensuring Chennai got past the 200 in the end. He would bring up his half-century in just 22 deliveries, but would get dismissed by Rashid right after.
Rizvi bosses Rashid in his maiden IPL outing
While the foundation for CSK’s tall score after being invited to bat by GT was laid by the opening pair of Ravindra and Gaikwad as well as Dube, middle-order batter Sameer Rizvi did his bit with an entertaining cameo in which he collected 14 runs off just six balls before getting dismissed by pacer Mohit Sharma in the final over.
The uncapped Indian batter, who hails from Uttar Pradesh, was batting for the first time in the yellow jersey even though he made his debut against RCB at the same venue on Friday. There had been plenty of chatter surrounding his hefty price tag in the player auction that took place in Dubai in December, in which CSK went all-out to secure him and eventually ended up shelling out Rs 8.4 crore.
Rizvi would justify the fortune that the Super Kings paid to secure him by smashing two sixes off Rashid Khan in his first four deliveries. He would get down on one knee and slog sweep the Afghan, considered one of the world’s best spinners in the white-ball formats, for a maximum over deep midwicket. Three balls later, he would give Rashid the charge down the track and loft him over long off to announce himself in the IPL in style.
Dhoni grabs a blinder to dismiss Shankar
Dhoni has yet to face a delivery in the ongoing IPL, sending Rizvi and Ravindra Jadeja out to bat ahead of him against GT on Tuesday when everyone at Chepauk was clamouring for him to pad up and walk out to the centre. He did however, dazzle the CSK faithful at their home venue with a stunning catch to dismiss GT all-rounder Vijay Shankar in Daryl Mitchell’s first over of the evening.
What made the catch all the more special was the fact that ‘Thala’ had a fraction of a second to react after the thick outside edge off Shankar’s blade. The manner in which he leapt to his right and pouched the ball safely between his gloves would prove that age is just a number after all, at least for the extraordinary athlete that MSD is.
Gujarat collapse after Miller’s exit
Dhoni’s catch to dismiss Shankar was by no means the only stunning catch pulled off by a senior member of the side at Chepauk on Tuesday. Ajinkya Rahane too would highlight the fact that he’s fitter and more agile than ever at 35 years of age as he leapt forward at deep midwicket to complete a superb catch, resulting in Tushar Deshpande grabbing the prized wicket of David Miller.
Miller was starting to get settled at the crease, reaching 21 with the help of three fours and a strike rate in the 130s when he went for a flick off an attempted yorker from the seamer. The South African was looking to bring up Gujarat’s 100 in style, but would end up sending the ball in Rahane’s direction, though it still needed a extraordinary effort on the part of Rahane to complete the dismissal.
It was the second time in as many matches that Rahane produced a stunning fielding effort at deep midwicket, after his relay catch in collaboration with Ravindra to dismiss Kohli in the season opener. Miller’s dismissal, meanwhile trigger a slide for Gujarat as they would end up losing five wickets for 33 runs in the middle overs, the match slipping out of their grasp in that phase.
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