Chennai Tremendous Kings 206 for six (Dube 51, Ravindra 46) beat Gujarat Titans 143 for 8 (Sudharsan 37, Chahar 2-28, Deshpande 2-21) by 63 runs
The brand new faces of Chennai Tremendous Kings impressed in opposition to the workforce they took down in the IPL 2023 closing, signalling that the post-MS Dhoni period may be full of a number of success.
Rachiiiiin Rachin!
He was straight-driving sixes. He was front-foot pulling boundaries. He was pouncing on uncommon brief balls from Rashid Khan. This was a batter exhibiting off simply how early he was choosing size and simply how good his hand-eye coordination is. He was by no means out of place. He was by no means rushed. He by no means even regarded like he was attempting. His 46 off 20 balls is already in the Tremendous Kings corridor of fame as a result of he hit 9 boundaries, the joint-fifth-most by any CSK batter inside the powerplay in all IPL historical past.
Dube destroys spin
Left-arm spinner Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan had been immense in serving to Titans shut down Mumbai Indians of their first match of the season. Right here they had been virtually not allowed to complete their full quota of overs. As a result of Shivam Dube.
The primary ball of the eleventh over resulted in Ajinkya Rahane’s wicket with the rating on 104 for two. The second and third had been despatched up into orbit by the certainly one of the league’s finest spin-hitters.
Dube’s story may nicely be the strongest argument in favour of role-clarity in T20 cricket. Right here was a power-hitter who had just one fifty from his first 22 IPL innings as a result of groups stored utilizing him as a finisher. He is not that, as a result of he’s nonetheless a piece in progress in opposition to quick bowling.
All the energy he had was going to waste, till CSK got here calling in 2022 and determined they’d use him in opposition to the slower bowlers; in opposition to the sort of folks he can simply plant that entrance foot down and use all of his wingspan. Even Rashid wasn’t capable of preserve Dube quiet. That is the high quality of his spin-hitting. He has 57 sixes since the swap to yellow and that places him degree with IPL legend Andre Russell and Liam Livingstone and behind solely Jos Buttler (59).
Rizvi rises
At the fall of Dube’s wicket, with lower than two overs to go, Chepauk might need anticipated Dhoni to stride out to the center. The digital camera definitely did. It stored panning to him in the dressing room.
As a substitute, it was 20-year previous Rizvi who stepped up. And he swept the first ball that he confronted in the IPL for six. That it occurred to be Rashid bowling and that he hit him for an additional six – this one a little bit of a mis-hit as he charged out of his crease and swung himself virtually off his ft – solely added to the event. If that is the new CSK, there’s going to be a number of extra particular years forward.
Tempo, not spin, in Chennai
Deepak Chahar was discovering that his slower ball wasn’t working tonight; that the pitch as an alternative of providing grip solely let it slide onto the bat. However Chepauk did not completely bail on its workforce. There was a second in the third over when slightly little bit of a low bounce resulted in Shubman GIll’s wicket. He was lbw whereas enjoying that front-foot pull shot with an angled bat that normally goes to the boundary.
Extra mischief occurred as a workforce that’s not actually recognized for his or her fielding pulled off three unbelievable catches – Dhoni diving full size to his proper to do away with Vijay Shankar, Ajinkya Rahane working in from midwicket and diving ahead to snap up a David Miller helicopter shot at deep midwicket, and Ravindra gobbling up a skier from Azmatullah Omarzai.
The Titans chase by no means bought going. They’d solely 34 on the board when their openers fell, 114 when their top-scorer Sai Sudharsan fell, and at 129 for 8 they had been even in peril of being bowled out. That did not occur however this loss was their worst by way of runs in the IPL.
Alagappan Muthu is a sub-editor at ESPNcricinfo
