The previous occasion Gujarat Titans met Chennai Super Kings at the Narendra Modi Stadium, B. Sai Sudharsan stroked his way to a brilliant 96 in the 2023 IPL final in a losing cause.

Against the same opponent on Friday, Sai Sudharsan went on to score his maiden IPL hundred (103, 51b, 5×4, 7×6) to power Titans to 231 for three after being asked to bat.

Perfect guide

The opener had his partner Shubman Gill to guide him along. The skipper made a hundred of his own (104, 55b, 9×4, 6×6) as the two made mincemeat of a hapless Super Kings attack during their 210-run partnership and set up a 35-run win. The duo made optimum use of the good batting conditions, displaying their full range with a mix of conventional batting and smart improvisation.

Right from the first ball he faced, Gill showed he meant business; he cut Mitchell Santner for a four and deposited him over long-on in the first over.

Sai Sudharsan joined the party with a couple of sixes. He then went after Ravindra Jadeja, targeting the leg-side boundary and getting to his half-century with a slog-swept six.

Ruturaj Gaikwad had to rely on seamers Simarjeet Singh and Daryl Mitchell as the spinners struggled, but the plan backfired. The floodgates opened in the 11th over when Gill pulled Simarjeet over fine-leg for a maximum to reach his half-century before Sai Sudharsan finished the over with a brace of sixes.

Gill turned his attention to Daryl Mitchell in the 14th over, smashing three sixes. To make it more agonising for the bowler, Tushar Deshpande dropped the second shot at long-off when the batter was on 72.

As they had done throughout their innings, Gill and Sai Sudharsan majestically touched the three-figure mark in the 17th over bowled by Simarjeet. While the former punished a full toss, the latter scooped the ball over fine-leg for a maximum.

Though Deshpande and Shardul Thakur pulled things back for Super Kings in the final five overs, they couldn’t stop Titans from making a mammoth total.

Chasing a target of 232, CSK was reduced to 10 for three. Mitchell (63) and Moeen Ali (56) put up a fight, adding 109 for the fourth wicket. Mohit Sharma weaved his magic, foxing Mitchell and Moeen with slower deliveries as the chase fizzled out. With their fifth victory, Titans lived to fight another day.

SCOREBOARD

GUJARAT TITANS

B. Sai Sudharsan c Dube b Deshpande 103 (51b, 5×4, 7×6), Shubman Gill c Jadeja b Deshpande 104 (55b, 9×4, 6×6), David Miller (not out) 16 (11b, 1×4), M. Shahrukh Khan run out 2 (3b); Extras (lb-1, w-5): 6; Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 231.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-210 (Sai Sudharsan, 17.2 overs), 2-213 (Gill, 17.6), 3-231 (Shahrukh, 19.6).

SUPER KINGS BOWLING

Santner 2-0-31-0, Deshpande 4-0-33-2, Shardul 4-0-25-0, Simarjeet 4-0-60-0, Jadeja 2-0-29-0, Mitchell 4-0-52-0.

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS

Ajinkya Rahane (Impact Player in place of Deshpande) c Tewatia b Warrier 1 (5b), Rachin Ravindra run out 1 (2b), Ruturaj Gaikwad c Rashid b Umesh 0 (3b), Daryl Mitchell c Shahrukh b Mohit 63 (34b, 7×4, 3×6), Moeen Ali c Noor b Mohit 56 (36b, 4×4, 4×6), Shivam Dube c Noor b Mohit 21 (13b, 2×4, 1×6), Ravindra Jadeja c Miller b Rashid 18 (10b, 2×4, 1×6), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 26 (11b, 1×4, 3×6), Mitchell Santner b Rashid 0 (2b), Shardul Thakur (not out) 3 (4b): Extras (lb-3, w-4): 7; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 196.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-2 (Ravindra, 0.6), 2-2 (Rahane, 1.1), 3-10 (Ruturaj, 2.5), 4-119 (Mitchell, 12.2), 5-135 (Moeen, 14.2), 6-165 (Dube, 16.4), 7-169 (Jadeja, 17.3), 8-169 (Santner, 17.5).

TITANS BOWLING

Umesh 3-0-20-1, Warrier (Impact Player in place of Sai Sudharsan) 3-0-28-1, Tyagi 4-0-51-0, Noor 2-0-25-0, Rashid 4-0-38-2, Mohit 4-0-31-3.

Toss: CSK. PoM: Gill.

Titans won by 35 runs.

An authoritative Royal Challengers Bengaluru shut down Gujarat Titans by four wickets at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here on Saturday.

A third win in a row pushed RCB to seventh on the points table, providing impetus to its playoff hopes.

The home team outplayed GT in all departments. A disciplined bowling performance restricted GT to 147, before a belligerent knock from Faf du Plessis (64, 23b, 10×4, 3×6) left GT with nowhere to hide.

Power play

With an eye on improving the net run-rate, du Plessis and opening partner Virat Kohli put on a whopping 92 runs in 5.5 overs. The electric start helped RCB reach the target with 6.2 overs to spare.

Kohli (42, 27b, 2×4, 4×6) went past Chennai Super Kings’ Ruturaj Gaikwad to regain his place as the tournament’s highest run-scorer.

RCB experienced minor jitters when it fell to 117 for six, but the experienced Dinesh Karthik (21 n.o.) ensured a job well done. RCB’s memorable night out was set up by a brilliant display with the ball.

The fast bowlers — Mohammed Siraj, V. Vyshak, Yash Dayal, and Cameron Green — were destructive on a pitch which offered extra carry.

GT did itself no favours by moving at a snail’s pace with the bat.

The perplexing trend was started by openers Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill, who scratched about to get two runs in the first two overs.

The first boundary of the essay came in the fourth over, when an inside edge gave Shahrukh Khan some respite.

GT crawled to 23 for three in six overs— the lowest PowerPlay score thus far in IPL 2024.

The tedious repair work was left to David Miller and Shahrukh.

Miller received a life on 23, when Karn Sharma dropped a straightforward chance at deep square-leg. It did not prove to be costly, as Karn deceived Miller with a flighted delivery a short while later.

An athletic piece of fielding from Kohli got rid of the dangerous Shahrukh (37).

Kohli swooped in, picked up the ball and threw down the stumps at the non-strikers’ end to leave Shahrukh short of the crease.

GT’s hopes of recording a substantial total vanished with Shahrukh’s dismissal.

SCOREBOARD

GUJARAT TITANS

Wriddhiman Saha c Karthik b Siraj 1 (7b), Shubman Gill c Vyshak b Siraj 2 (7b), Sai Sudharsan c Kohli b Green 6 (14b), Shahrukh Khan (run out) 37 (24b, 5×4, 1×6), David Miller c Maxwell b Karn 30 (20b, 3×4, 2×6), Rahul Tewatia c Vyshak b Dayal 35 (21b, 5×4, 1×6), Rashid Khan b Dayal 18 (14b, 2×4, 1×6), Vijay Shankar (Impact Player in place of Sai Sudharsan) c Siraj b Vyshak 10 (7b, 2×4), Manav Suthar c Swapnil b Vyshak 1 (2b), Mohit Sharma (run out) 0 (1b), Noor Ahmad (not out) 0 (0b); Extras (b-2, lb-1, w-4): 7; Total (in 19.3 overs): 147.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-1 (Saha, 1.3 overs), 2-10 (Gill, 3.5), 3-19 (Sai Sudharsan, 5.3), 4-80 (Miller, 11.4), 5-87 (Shahrukh, 12.4), 6-131 (Rashid, 17.3), 7-136 (Tewatia, 17.6), 8-147 (Suthar, 19.1), 9-147 (Mohit, 19.2).

RCB BOWLING

Swapnil 1-0-1-0, Siraj 4-0-29-2, Dayal 4-0-21-2, Green 4-0-28-1, Vyshak 3.3-0-23-2, Karn 3-0-42-1.

ROYAL CHALLENGERS

Virat Kohli c Saha b Noor 42 (27b, 2×4, 4×6), Faf du Plessis c Shahrukh b Little 64 (23b, 10×4, 3×6), Will Jacks c Shahrukh b Noor 1 (3b), Rajat Patidar (Impact Player in place of Dayal) c Miller b Little 2 (3b), Glenn Maxwell c Miller b Little 4 (3b, 1×4), Cameron Green c Shahrukh b Little 1 (2b), Dinesh Karthik (not out) 21 (12b, 3×4), Swapnil Singh (not out) 15 (9b, 2×4, 1×6); Extras (lb-1, w-1): 2; Total (for six wkts. in 13.4 overs): 152.

FALL OF WICKETS

1-92 (du Plessis, 5.5), 2-99 (Jacks, 6.5), 3-103 (Patidar, 7.3), 4-107 (Maxwell, 7.6), 5-111 (Green, 9.5), 6-117 (Kohli, 10.4).

TITANS BOWLING

Mohit 2-0-32-0, Little 4-0-45-4, Suthar 2-0-26-0, Noor 4-0-23-2, Rashid 1.4-0-25-0.

Toss: RCB.

PoM: Siraj.

RCB won by four wickets with 38 balls to spare.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru will be meeting Gujarat Titans in Bengaluru to notch a mandatory win to keep the dream of reaching playoffs flickering.
| Photo Credit: ANI

Having notched up wins in its last two fixtures, Royal Challengers Bengaluru has kept its IPL playoff hopes alive. RCB will strive to keep the momentum going with a good result against Gujarat Titans in Bengaluru on May 4.

RCB holds sway, having gotten past the same opponent last week at Ahmedabad. The victory was set up by a brilliant unbeaten 41-ball 100 from Will Jacks, with Virat Kohli (70 n.o.) playing the supporting role.

Unlike many other sides, RCB has not been able to take full advantage of home conditions. Faf du Plessis and his men have managed only one positive result in four games held at the M. Chinnaswamy Stadium here.

Jacks believes that RCB is now well poised to do well at home, given that their batters have found form. “We do not want to focus on our losing record here. Because of the playing conditions, it is hard to have home advantage. The pitches are good and the boundaries are small. If a batter gets going, it is hard to stop. Now that our batters are in form, we can hopefully finish our home games strongly,” Jacks said.

The city welcomed a long-awaited spell of rain on Friday, even if it mildly disrupted the training schedule of the teams. The skies cleared up later, allowing players to get a hit under lights.

Much like RCB, GT is teetering on the edge of elimination. With eight points from 10 matches, the visitor needs to get on a winning streak to push for a playoff spot. GT must address its bowling woes, having conceded 200-plus scores in its last two outings.

Teams (from):

Royal Challengers Bengaluru: Faf du Plessis (c), Glenn Maxwell, Virat Kohli, Rajat Patidar, Anuj Rawat, Dinesh Karthik, Suyash Prabhudessai, Will Jacks, Mahipal Lomror, Karn Sharma, Manoj Bhandage, Mayank Dagar, Vijaykumar Vyshak, Akash Deep, Mohammed Siraj, Reece Topley, Himanshu Sharma, Rajan Kumar, Cameron Green, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Tom Curran, Lockie Ferguson, Swapnil Singh, Saurav Chauhan.

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), David Miller, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, B. Sai Sudharsan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmad, Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Azmatullah Omarzai, Umesh Yadav, Shahrukh Khan, Sushant Mishra, Kartik Tyagi, Manav Suthar, Spencer Johnson, Sandeep Warrier, BR Sharath.

Match starts at 7.30 PM.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru player Will Jacks during his brilliant century knock at the Indian Premier League 2024 match against Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad on April28, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Vijay Soneji

The Indian Batting League — also known as the Indian Premier League — continues to make the bowlers question their wisdom of opting for their profession.

Another score of 200 or more was chased down with ridiculous ease on Sunday. Put in to bat, Gujarat Titans had made 200 for three, and Royal Challengers Bengaluru stormed past that total with four overs and nine wickets to spare to post its third win, and the second in as many games.

That man who has mastered the art of chasing was there till the end. And Virat Kohli played brilliantly, but he was overshadowed at the Narendra Modi Stadium by Will Jacks.

The Indian superstar didn’t mind that at all; he didn’t hide his emotion when he watched Will Jacks completing his stunning hundred with a six, the only way to reach the landmark, as just one was required at that time.

Kohli (70 n.o., 44b, 6×4, 3×6) and Jacks (100 n.o., 41b, 5×4, 10×6) put on 166 for the unfinished second wicket. That was after Kohli and captain Faf du Plessis raced to 40 within four overs.

Jacks may have taken some time to get going; he was on 16 off as many balls after 10 overs. His partner had by that time reached another fifty, this time off 32 balls. The Englishman soon tore into the GT attack.

After hitting Mohit Sharma for a six and a four in the 11th over, he targeted the seamer again when he came back for his second over. He clobbered him for 28 runs in the 15th over which also had a no-ball.

In the next over, Kohli took a single off Rashid Khan’s first ball to let Jacks finish the job. That over also produced 29, with the last ball dispatched over deep mid-wicket.

Earlier, it took an 86-run stand from the two Tamil Nadu batters B. Sai Sudharshan (84 n.o., 49b, 8×4, 4×6) and M. Shahrukh Khan (58, 30b, 3×4, 5×6) to recover from 45 for two in 6.4 overs. The ploy to send Shahrukh at No. 4 worked, but his big hits were to be upstaged by Jacks’.

Scoreboard

Gujarat Titans: Wriddhiman Saha c Sharma b Swapnil Singh 5 Shubman Gill c Green b Maxwell 16 Sai Sudharsan not out 84 M Shahrukh Khan b Mohammed Siraj 58 David Miller not out 26 Extras: (LB-1 NB-1 W-9) 11

Total: (For 3 wickets in 20 overs) 200

Fall of wickets: 1/6 2/45 3/131

Royal Challengers Bengaluru bowling: Swapnil Singh 3-0-23-1, Mohammed Siraj 4-0-34-1, Yash Dayal 4-0-34-0, Glenn Maxwell 3-0-28-1, Karn Sharma 3-0-38-0, Cameron Green 3-0-42-0.

Royal Challengers Bengaluru Innings: Virat Kohli not out 70 Faf du Plessis c (sub)Vijay Shankar b Sai Kishore 24 Will Jacks not out 100 Extras: (B-4, LB-4, W-3, NB-1) 12

Total: (1 wkt, 16 Overs) 206

Fall of Wickets: 1-40.

Gujarat Titans bowling: Azmatullah Omarzai 2-0-18-0, Sandeep Warrier 1-0-15-0, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore 3-0-30-1, Rashid Khan 4-0-51-0, Noor Ahmad 4-0-43-0, Mohit Sharma 2-0-41-0.

A depleted Gujarat Titans bowling attack will have to raise its game by quite a few notches if it intends to stop a marauding Sunrisers Hyderabad team fresh from its record total against Mumbai Indians, in the upcoming afternoon IPL match in Ahmedabad on March 31.

Sunrisers are coming here on the back of breaking the ceiling for all time IPL total when they plundered 277 against Mumbai Indians to secure their first win of the season.

First time skipper Shubman Gill’s Titans, who started off with a win at home against Mumbai Indians, on the other hand slipped in Chennai in their previous game.

The profligate Umesh Yadav is no match for injured Mohmmed Shami and that is proving to be a big factor for Titans.

The resounding 63-run defeat affected their net run rate as it plummeted to -1.425, worst among the league’s 10 teams, which could cause some problems towards the business end of the tournament. It can’t be denied that losing Hardik Pandya, who lends necessary balance with his all-round skills has also been a big factor.

Winners and runners-up in the last two seasons, GT’s success under Pandya has centred around one of their batters ability to come up trumps and play a match winning role.

Whether it’s Wriddhiman Saha, David Miller, Pandya, or Rahul Tewatia, one of them has typically ignited the batting lineup. However, in the absence of the inspirational India all-rounder, their batting display appears drab and lacking its usual spark.

Gujarat Titans had a one-day style batting approach chasing Chennai Super Kings’ imposing 207, and barring Sai Sudharsan none could reach 30s.

The likes of Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar look unidimensional, while Gill’s T20 batting will again come for scrutiny, after his knocks of 31 and 8.

That their finisher Miller (12 and 21) is also struggling underscored their slow approach in the middle overs (11-15) where they managed just 34 runs.

They would hope that Miller is able to get his mojo back as they would have to bat out of their skin to match SRH’s batting might.

Tournament dark horses SRH have lit up the IPL with a record-breaking performance at home in their last match.

Their 277/3 against Mumbai in Hyderabad on Wednesday took them past the previous record IPL total of 263/5 set by Royal Challengers Bangalore against Pune Warriors in 2013.

Australia World Cup winner Travis Head (62; 24b) made a stunning debut for SRH, smashing the fastest fifty for the franchise, taking 18 balls for the milestone to give them an explosive start.

The feat was then bettered by uncapped Indian Abhishek Sharma who got to his fifty in just 16 balls.

With the South African duo of Aiden Markram and Heinrich Klaasen too have been in imperious form lower down the order, the likes of Umesh Yadav and Rashid Khan will be tested.

Being an afternoon match, the dry surface may also prove handy for the spinners as Rashid and Sai Kishore will be crucial for either sides.

It’s not just their batting their bowling also looked balanced and the Australian World Cup winning skipper Pat Cummins has shown his ability to utilise his resources well.

Despite a thin spin presence, Cummins did well to use left arm orthodox Shahbaz Ahmed to good effect in dismissing Ishan Kishan inside the power-play.

In the pace bowling front, Cummins has formed a fine partnership with Indian veteran Bhuvneshwar Kumar, who bowled a superb 13th over, giving away just five runs in a game that was primarily dominated by batters.

Cummins then conceded just three runs in the 15th over and also dismissed Tilak Varma against the run of play to turn the course of the game.

On paper though both teams have two points from as many matches but after their batting carnage in Hyderabad, SRH appear strong favourites, while the onus would be on GT batters to raise their game.

Squads

Gujarat Titans: Shubman Gill (c), David Miller, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Robin Minz, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Mandhar, B Sai Sudarshan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Azmatullah Omarzai, Shahrukh Khan, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Kartik Tyagi, Shshant Mishra, Spencer Johnson, Noor Ahmad, Sai Kishore, Umesh Yadav, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma and Manav Suthar.

Sunrisers Hyderabad: Pat Cummins (c), Abdul Samad, Abhishek Sharma, Aiden Markram, Travis Head, Wanindu Hasaranga, Marco Jansen, Rahul Tripathi, Washington Sundar, Glenn Phillips, Sanvir Singh, Heinrich Klaasen, Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Mayank Agarwal, T. Natarajan, Anmolpreet Singh, Mayank Markande, Upendra Singh Yadav, Umran Malik, Nitish Kumar Reddy, Fazalhaq Farooqi, Shahbaz Ahmed, Jaydev Unadkat, Akash Singh and Jhathavedh Subramanyan.

Match starts: 3.30pm.

Like most Indian venues, Chepauk is used to the chants of ‘Sachin, Sachin’ while cheering the nation’s most celebrated cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, in his playing days.

Figuring in only his second IPL match, Rachin Ravindra found a way into the hearts of the city’s passionate fans, who quickly belted out ‘Rachin, Rachin’ as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener produced another impressive cameo that laid the foundation for the defending champion’s thumping 63-run win over Gujarat Titans at the MAC Stadium on Tuesday.

His rapid 46 (20b, 6×4, 3×6), followed by fellow-southpaw Shivam Dube’s 23-ball 51 (2×4, 5×6), powered CSK to 206 for six after being asked to bat.

Early setback

The Titans’ batters never looked like chasing it down after Deepak Chahar removed openers Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha inside the PowerPlay. B. Sai Sudharsan and David Miller tried to forge a fightback, adding 41 runs for the fourth wicket, but the former struggled to get the big shots going as the CSK pacers kept a tight leash on proceedings.

Surprisingly, the home team used only one spinner — Ravindra Jadeja — with pacer Matheesha Pathirana playing in the second half as an ‘Impact Player’ in place of Dube. Once Tushar Deshpande accounted for David Miller and Azmatullah Omarzai, both caught in the deep, the writing was on the wall for the visitors.

Earlier, Ravindra smashed Titans’ pacers Umesh Yadav and Omarzai all over the park with the typical elegance associated with left-handers. He started by flicking Umesh off his hips for a six, over square leg, to signal his intentions, and from there on, was pretty much unstoppable.

The 24-year-old played some delectable shots, with clean hits down the ground and when the bowlers pitched short, he pulled them into the stands with disdain.

Then, Dube, the Super Kings’ designated batter to take on spinners, played his role to perfection, lofting R. Sai Kishore for consecutive sixes off the first two balls he faced before dispatching Rashid into the crowd by getting down on his knee and using his long reach to telling effect.

Sameer Rizvi gave the Chennai innings the final flourish as he swept Rashid, who got a pounding on the day, for a six off the first ball he faced before launching him over long-off to take the host past 200, a score well beyond Gujarat’s reach.

The teams

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman. Substitutes: Matheesha Pathirana, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner

Gujarat Titans; Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill (capt), Azmatullah Omarzai, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Spencer Johnson. Substitutes: Sai Sudharsan, BR Sharath, Abhinav Manohar, Manav Suthar, Noor Ahmad.

Scoreboard

Chennai Super Kings

Ruturaj Gaikwad c Saha b Johnson 46 (36b, 5×4, 1×6), Rachin Ravindra st. Saha b Rashid 46 (20b, 6×4, 3×6), Ajinkya Rahane st. Saha b Sai Kishore 12 (12b), Shivam Dube c Vijay Shankar b Rashid 51 (23b, 2×4, 5×6), Daryl Mitchell (not out) 24 (20b, 2×4), Sameer Rizvi c Miller b Mohit 14 (6b, 2×6), Ravindra Jadeja run out 7 (3b, 1×4); Extras (lb-1, w-5): 6; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 206.

Fall of Wickets

1-62 (Ravindra, 5.2 overs), 2-104 (Rahane, 10.1), 3-127 (Ruturaj, 12.3), 4-184 (Dube, 18.2), 5-199 (Rizvi, 19.3), 6-206 (Jadeja, 19.6).

Titans Bowling

Omarzai 3-0-30-0, Umesh 2-0-27-0, Rashid 4-0-49-2, Sai Kishore 3-0-28-1, Johnson 4-0-35-1, Mohit 4-0-36-1.

Gujarat Titans

Wriddhiman Saha c Deshpande b Deepak Chahar 21 (17b, 4×4), Shubman Gill lbw b Deepak Chahar 8 (5b, 1×6), Sai Sudharsan (Impact Player in place of Mohit) c Rizvi b Pathirana 37 (31b, 3×4), Vijay Shankar c Dhoni b Mitchell 12 (12b, 1×6), David Miller c Rahane b Deshpande 21 (16b, 3×4), Azmatullah Omarzai c Ravindra b Deshpande 11 (10b, 1×4), Rahul Tewatia c Ravindra b Mustafizur 6 (11b, 1×4), Rashid Khan c Ravindra b Mustafizur 1 (2b), Umesh Yadav (not out) 10 (11b, 1×6), Spencer Johnson (not out) 5 (5b, 1×4); Extras (lb-2, w-9): 11; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 143.

Fall of Wickets

1-28 (Gill, 2.5), 2-34 (Saha, 4.3), 3-55 (Vijay Shankar, 7.3), 4-96 (Miller, 11.5), 5-114 (Sai Sudharsan, 14.5), 6-118 (Omarzai, 15.2), 7-121 (Rashid, 16.2), 8-129 (Tewatia, 18.2).

Super Kings Bowling

Deepak Chahar 4-0-28-2, Mustafizur 4-0-30-2, Deshpande 4-0-21-2, Jadeja 2-0-15-0, Mitchell 2-0-18-1, Pathirana (Impact Player in place of Dube) 4-0-29-1.

Toss: Titans; PoM: Dube.

CSK won by 63 runs.

IPL CSK vs GT

It will be a test of wits between two new captains — Shubman Gill and Ruturaj Gaikwad — when defending champions Chennai Super Kings clash with Gujarat Titans in an Indian Premier League match in Chennai on March 26.

Both openers known for their smooth and elegant shot-making will be engaged in a battle of tactical supremacy as CSK and GT will be looking to sustain their momentum after wins in their previous matches.

While Gaikwad was elevated to the captaincy role after the legendary Mahendra Singh Dhoni stepped down as skipper on the eve of CSK’s opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru, Gill had a bit more time to prepare for his new role as he was tasked to lead the Titans after Hardik Pandya left in November last year.

At 24, Gill is the youngest captain in the IPL but he showcased his mettle against MI in the leadership role. However, Gill’s task is made tad easier as he has head coach Ashish Nehra, who owns a tactically brilliant mind, the experienced David Miller and New Zealand skipper Kane Williamson by his side.

Gaikwad, on the other hand, impressed on his captaincy debut under the tutelage of the talismanic Dhoni as CSK breezed to a six-wicket win against RCB.

But the bowling unit will eye an improved effort especially pacer Tushar Deshpande. After Mustafizur Rahman sizzled with a four-wicket haul, the CSK bowlers let Anuj Rawat and Dinesh Karthik put up a 95-run stand to let RCB put a decent total on the board.

Deshpande was guilty of leaking runs and he would be wary of another mediocre performance with veteran Shardul Thakur, who is also a handy customer with the bat, and the uncapped Mukesh Choudhary lurking around for a chance in the playing XI.

Sri Lankan pacer Matheesha Pathirana has also been declared fit to play, having recovered from his hamstring injury.

Furthermore, there’s a chance that Rachin Ravindra can be used as a spin option, who has been bowling well in the nets of late.

CSK are unlikely to fiddle with their batting line-up.

In-form Ravindra impressed with a 15-ball 37 in his IPL debut against RCB and the Kiwi batter will look to continue in the same vein.

Young Sameer Rizvi, who also debuted in the previous game, did not get to bat and will be eager to show what he is capable of. Dhoni did not bat against Bengaluru and his legion fans will be desperate to see some fireworks from him.

On the other hand, the Titans will hope for a better outing with the bat, following a mediocre display against MI at home.

The GT batters failed to convert their starts and the former champions would need Gill and veteran wicketkeeper batter Wriddhiman Saha to give them an explosive start.

The middle-order batters comprising the likes of Azmatullah Omarzai, David Miller and Rahul Tewatia will have to pull up their socks as well.

Meanwhile, GT’s Chennai-born cricketer Sai Sudarshan, who has been in good form with the bat of late, will draw some attention from the crowd.

In the absence of veteran pacer Mohammad Shami, the Titans bowlers put up a consolidated effort to eke out a six-run win over Mumbai.

At the slow Chepauk track spinners Rashid Khan and Sai Kishore will play a pivotal role for them.

Squads:

Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), MS Dhoni (wk), Moeen Ali, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangarkar, Ravindra Jadeja, Ajay Mandal, Mukesh Chaudhary, Ajinkya Rahane, Shaik Rasheed, Mitchell Santner, Simarjeet Singh, Nishant Sindhu, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Rachin Ravindra, Shardul Thakur, Daryl Mitchell, Sameer Rizvi, Mustafizur Rahman, and Aravelly Avanish Rao (wk).

Gujarat Titans: Shubhman Gill (c), David Miller, Matthew Wade, Wriddhiman Saha, Kane Williamson, Abhinav Manohar, Sai Sudarshan, Darshan Nalkande, Vijay Shankar, Jayant Yadav, Rahul Tewatia, Noor Ahmed, Sai Kishore, Rashid Khan, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma, Azmatullah Omarzai, Umesh Yadav, Shahrukh Khan, Sushant Mishra, Kartik Tyagi, Manav Suthar, Spencer Johnson, Sandeep Warrier, BR Sharath.

Match starts: 7.30 pm.