CHENNAI: Chennai Super Kings openers Ruturaj Gaikwad, Rachin Ravindra made 46 runs each and Shivam Dube's 51 came in handy for the hosts to defeat Gujarat Titans by 63 runs in the IPL played at the MA Chidambaram stadium here on Tuesday.
Rachin began with a bang and played effortlessly, while Ruturaj after a cautious start played aggressively. The duo added 62 in 5.1 overs for the first wicket that set the tone for the CSK middle order to consolidate.
Set a stiff target of 207 for victory, Gujarat Titans batters never got going and lost wickets at regular intervals. Shubman Gill did get off to a flying start, hitting a six off Deepak Chahar. However, he did not last long as he was trapped right in front by Deepak. A while later Deepak also accounted for Wriddhiman Saha.
Reeling at 34 for 2, Vijay Shankar joined Sai Sudharsan. A lot was expected from the Tamil Nadu duo as they have plenty of experience playing at Chepauk.
Vijay, promoted to at No 4, did not do justice to his talent as his half-hearted drive ended up as a thick outside edge, brilliantly caught by Dhoni diving to his right, with Mitchell bagging the wicket. Ruturaj shuffled his bowlers well and maintained the pressure till the end.
Sai Sudharsan (37) after a patient effort holed out to Sameer Rizvi at long on, with Matheesha Pathirana giving the vital breakthrough.
Thereafter, Gujarat's lower-order failed to click as a unit and on the whole they conceded the match without a fight.
Earlier, Dube (51) and Daryl Mitchell combined well and carried the good work. Ruturaj and Rachin added 57 runs for the fourth wicket. Dube was at his aggressive best and some of his shots looked as if he was playing golf, in particular the six off Mohit Sharma that sailed deep into the long off fence.
Dube's end came when he mis-timed a lofted drive and fell to the guile of Rashid Khan.
Put in to bat, Chennai Super Kings straight away got into the act. The duo of Ruturaj and Rachin played sensibly and complimented each other with excellent running between the wickets.
Rachin was harsh on Umesh Yadav as the Kiwi could pick the length early and thus carted the India pacer over the backward square leg fence for a huge six. Then sliced him once again to the point area for a boundary.
This helped Rachin gain in confidence and in the very next over struck Azmatullah for two consecutive boundaries.
Thereafter, Rachin treated the Gujarat pacers with disdain and scored boundaries at will.
With the ball coming on to the bat niace, Rachin had all the time to play his shots. His lofted drive off Azmatullah where the ball sailed into the MCC stands was perhaps the shot of the day as it had grace written all over it.
Much earlier, Australian Matthew Hayden, in his pitch report, reckoned that the wicket would take turn in the middle overs, but insisted that the team that won the toss should bat first. But Shubman thought otherwise and opted to bowl. This also served the hosts' cause. "It's a different pitch tonight. Looks a really good wicket, there was bounce and carry in the first game. There's a lot of grass on the surface, unusual for a Chepauk pitch. There are a few patches where there's an uneven covering of grass. The spinners will come into play in the middle overs. It's a bat-first wicket," said Hayden.
However, when well set for a long innings, Rachin was stumped by Saha off Rashid for a well-made 46 runs off just 20 balls.
Rashid bowled a quicker delivery on leg, that skidded along the deck. Rachin tried to nudge it away, but it clipped his pads and rolled towards the keeper. Ravindra was outside his crease and Saha was quick enough to whip off the bails.
Thereafter, Ruturaj and Ajinkya Rahane played in tandem and got their partnership slowly rolling. With spinners Rashid and Sai Kishore operating, the strike-rate dipped a bit.
Sai Kishore, being a local boy and well aware of the wicket and conditions, deceived Rahane with his flight to have the former India captain stumped by Saha. But his joy was short-lived as Dube the next man carted Sai Kishore for two consecutive sixes to send the crowd into wild celebrations.
Shubman Gill had no other option and had to introduce Mohit Sharma.
Sharma and Spencer Johnson with their clever lines stifled CSK batters' stroke play. Gujarat played the same team that won against Mumbai, while Chennai made one change Pathirana was included at the expense of Theekshana.
