Follow UsThe record-equalling Shubman Gill - Sai Sudharsan stand
It was an ‘I was not ready da’ moment for CSK. Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan, out of the blue, put up a record-equalling 210-run opening stand to stun the Super Kings. The pair started at a moderate pace but accelerated extraordinarily to take GT from 58/0 in 6 overs to 209/0 in 17 overs.
For only the third time in IPL history, there were two centurions from the same innings.
Gujarat’s (Lord-induced) underwhelming finish
GT getting to 250 looked inevitable at one point, but an underwhelming finish saw them score just 41 in the last five overs to finish with 231/3. Post the dismissal of the openers, David Miller and Shahrukh Khan could manage only 18 runs off 14 balls between them.
Shardul Thakur pulled it back with the ball for CSK, bowling two overs at the death for just 12 runs.
CSK’s calamitous powerplay
Chasing 232, CSK endured the worst powerplay imaginable. They lost their top three, including skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad, inside the first 18 balls. The calamitous powerplay was kick-started by a needless run-out that saw the returning Rachin Ravindra perish for 1.
Mohit Sharma’s game-turning triple strike
Daryl Mitchell (63) and Moeen Ali (53) rescued CSK’s innings, and the Super Kings were still in the game at 119/3 after 12 overs, needing 113 off the final eight. This is when Mohit Sharma entered the attack and effectively killed the contest with a triple strike.
Mohit, who had conceded 146 off his previous eight overs in IPL 2024 while taking no wickets, removed all of Moeen, Mitchell and Dube in his first three overs to seal CSK’s fate.
MS Dhoni rescues CSK’s NRR with his big hits
MS Dhoni is often memed for hitting sixes after the game is done, but tonight he rescued CSK’s NRR with a brisk cameo of 26* off 11. At 169/8, getting bowled out under 175 would have been disastrous for the Super Kings.
But Dhoni’s late onslaught helped them keep their NRR (+0.491) above both SRH (+0.406) and RCB (+0.217).