MASTER DOMINATES APPRENTICE IN THRILLING IPL FINAL 2023
Monday 4 December 2023
TATA IPL 2023 Final
Narendra Modi Stadium, Ahmedabad
MASTER
TRIUMPHS APPRENTICE IN THRILLING IPL FINAL 2023
Preview
of the Final:
It was a thrilling final that went down to the wire in Ahmedabad.
A meeting of two teams who faced off in the opening game of IPL 2023. The
overall H2H stats show that the Gujarat Titans are leading 3-1. But this year, it’s been only
1-1, both teams winning each other. GT in game 1 and CSK in qualifier 1 (Match
number 71).
The master, MS Dhoni of CSK, faced off his apprentice, the
captain of Gujarat Titans, Hardik Pandya for the third time in this IPL,
looking to do the double after he guided his franchise to their first ever
title last year against Rajasthan Royals. This however was a much different task;
it was the 4-time IPL winners in Chennai Super Kings.
Ahead of Sunday 28 May, the match was unfortunately called
off due to heavy rain, which meant that a reserve day was booked for the two
teams. Monday 29 May was the date scheduled for the IPL final.
Before this contest, both teams arrived on the back of crucial
victories, when those two teams met in the first qualifier in Chennai, it was
the “Yellow Army” that marched onto the finals after beating the defending
champions on their (CSK’s) home turf.
Whereas the hosts, Gujarat Titans arrived at the final on
the back of a terrific win against Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier, courtesy
of their top run-scorer this season, Shubman Gill.
Toss and Team News:
At the toss, MS Dhoni called heads and won the toss, in
which he decided to field first in the final. Both teams came unchanged into
this game with the idea of not mixing them up. Impact subs for the two teams
were Shivam Dube for CSK and Josh Little for GT.
Innings Summary: GT innings
The Titans got off to
a good start with their innings, openers Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill made 67
for the first wicket stand, only for the hometown boy, Ravindra Jadeja to
strike the first wicket of the GT innings, Gill stumped out thanks to the vintage
Dhoni, with his lightning-fast hands, catching the batsman out of his crease at
67-1 after 7 overs.
NO ESCAPING THAT!
MS
Dhoni stumps out Shubman Gill for the first wicket of the GT innings.
Tamil-born Sai
Sudharshan came at number 3, and he formed a terrific partnership with Saha
making 64 for the second-wicket partnership, with Saha reaching 50 in a final and
Sudharshan cruising along nicely with 36 runs of 25 balls. Deepak Chahar broke
the stand in the 14th over to dismiss Saha after he skied in the air, only for
the CSK captain to pouch it safely to get the second wicket at 131-2 after 14
overs. Captain Hardik Pandya came out to the middle at number 4. He and Sai
Sudharshan put on an unassailable stand of 81 runs. But Sai Sudharshan was unfortunate not to have hit a century in an IPL final as he was struck LBW by
Matheesha Pathirana after going for two sixes of the first two balls of the
last over. The score was 212-3 at the time when Sudharshan’s wicket fell. Rashid
Khan came, and he didn’t last long as he skied the ball only to find Ruturaj
Gaikwad in the deep to dismiss him for 0 of 2 balls. Captain Hardik remained
not out for 21 of 11 balls, as GT posted their highest-ever total in an IPL
final. 214-4 after their 20 overs.
The target for CSK
was to chase 215 in their 20 overs with a run rate of 10.75 an over.
Innings
overview: CSK innings (Target: 171 of 15 Overs, DLS)
After only 3
deliveries of Mohammed Shami’s first over, the players immediately came off the
field with rain pouring down after the third delivery was hit for 4 runs off
Gaikwad’s bat.
The covers were brought on, after CSK
started their chase with rain pouring down.
With the target of 171 runs of 15 overs set after a period of heavy rain, CSK wasted no time and got on with the chase, with openers Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad obliterating GT’s bowling attack by smashing 72 runs of the first 6 overs of the innings. Conway reaching 44 of 22 balls, Gaikwad reaching 25 of 14 balls.
Conway and Gaikwad put on a 50+ run stand for the 4th time in IPL
2023.
Noor Ahmed came and
got his first wicket and CSK’s first wicket of the innings in his 3rd
delivery as Gaikwad sliced a skier to Noor’s Afghan compatriot, Rashid Khan
taking the catch, comfortably sending Gaikwad back for 26 of 16 deliveries.
Then Conway fell as the left-arm leggie grabbed his second and it was the set
batsman Conway falling to the spinner as he departed after scoring a good 47
runs of 25 deliveries.
34-year-old Ajinkya
Rahane came and played a crucial cameo that could keep CSK in the hunt,
alongside him 29-year-old Shivam Dube, who was the impact sub for the men in yellow,
kept the flow of runs going until former CSK bowler and 35-year-old Mohit
Sharma claimed the crucial scalp of Rahane as he departed after scoring 27 of
13 deliveries.
With only 3 overs left to spare and only 38 needed, 37-year-old veteran Ambati Rayudu came out looking to finish off his IPL career with a bang as he hit 16 off the first 3 deliveries of Mohit Sharma’s second over, only for the bowler to strangle him for space as Rayudu sliced in the air to give Sharma a simple caught and bowled catch. Rayudu leaves after scoring 19 runs off 8 deliveries, but the biggest shock silenced the sea of yellow.
MS Dhoni came out to
the middle, only for him to go for a first-ball duck hitting it straight to
David Miller at cover with the score at 149-5 with 2 overs to play. The GT
players did not celebrate his wicket as they all respected the 41-year-old
master as he left without scoring.
At 158-5 after 14
overs, Mohit Sharma had a big task in hand: prevent CSK from scoring 13 runs off
the last 6 balls with Dube and Ravindra Jadeja at the crease. Breakdown of how
the last over went:
First delivery: Dot
Ball, yorker, keeps Dube still at the crease.
Second delivery: Single
to Shivam Dube, yorker length, could only get it to long-off for one.
Third Delivery:
Single to Jadeja, yorker length, could only get it to long-off for one.
Fourth Delivery:
Single to Shivam Dube, yorker length, could only get it to long-on for one, leaving
Jadeja to face the final two deliveries of the final.
Fifth Delivery: SIX!!!
Just misses his yorker by a small inch and Jadeja clears long on for a crucial maximum. Only 4 needed from the last ball!!!
Last Delivery:
FOUR!!!! JADEJA HAS DONE IT!! HE WINS THE IPL FOR CSK!! Leg-side delivery and
Jadeja guides it towards the boundary rope as he seals the win on an early
Tuesday morning in Ahmedabad.
All of the CSK teammates
surround Dhoni and Jadeja after CSK won a thrilling final.
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