Devon Conway looked like a man possessed, letting out a war cry, when he wrapped his fingers under a ball which swirled off Shubman Gill’s bat to him at deep square leg.
Perhaps a part of him was letting off steam after his forgettable batting stint despite scoring 40 runs. Or, this was because the New Zealander knew that Chennai Super Kings had, at that very moment, significantly improved their chances of defeating Gujarat Titans.
This was over number 13.1 and the Titans needed 85 from 42 balls at the moment to keep up their reputation as one of the best chasing teams in the league.
CSK weren’t about to let a moment so monumental go waste, and in bowling the Titans out for 157 in 20 overs, Tuesday’s hosts qualified for the final after their 15-run win in Qualifier 1.
Frankly, this outcome wasn’t an easy one to gauge after the first innings for CSK managed to put up what seemed like a par 172 for 7 in 20 overs.
Surely, even MS Dhoni would have assumed the total was underwhelming for he had stated categorically that he would have enjoyed chasing here after losing the toss to Hardik Pandya.
What Dhoni or Pandya couldn’t have had is a premonition about the conspicuous absence of dew.
There have been other evening games at the MA Chidambaram when the dew has stayed away, but how fortuitous for it to come to CSK’s aid on a night like this?!
It didn’t seem like luck was on their side at the start of the day though. More specifically, after the end of the Ruturaj Gaikwad-Conway alliance worth 87 for the opening wicket.
After Gaikwad fell to Mohit Sharma, CSK lost Shivam Dube almost immediately. Ajinkya Rahane’s stay was fun but brief and Mohammad Shami put Conway out of his 34-ball misery. Ravindra Jadeja (22) contributed.
The Titans’ bowling unit was something to behold with Mohit, Noor Ahmed and Mohammed Shami bowling exceptional lengths and lines. It was certainly helped by the fact that the pitch was a tad sticky from the start.
Even Dhoni, who promoted himself to No.7, fell prey to awkward bounce when an off-cutter from Mohit came on late and he slapped the ball to Pandya at extra cover.
Sea of yellow
The sea of yellow which went silent at thala’s dismissal, remained so even when the Titans’ chase got underway.
Gill and Wriddhiman Saha looked good, but it was evident that stroke-making wasn’t easy. The Titans’ batting unit has a fair share of stroke makers in its midst, and so Dhoni went to his spinners. Ravindra Jadeja and Maheesh Theekshana were remarkable with their consistency.
When the pacers came on, they were all asked to cut pace. They all did so, and even if they ended up bowling far more wides than Dhoni’s profound patience could stand, CSK managed to hold on.
Even Rashid Khan’s (30) barrage couldn’t rescue the Titans this time.
SCORE BOARD
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Ruturaj Gaikwad c Miller b Mohair 60 (44b, 7x4, 1x6), Devon Conway c Rashid b Shami 40 (34b, 4x4), Shivam Dube b Noor 1 (3b), Ajinkya Rahane c Gill b Nalkande 17 (10b, 1x6), Ambati Rayudu c Shanaka b Rashid 17 (9b, 1x4, 1x6), Ravindra Jadeja b Shami 22 (16b, 2x4), MS Dhoni c Pandya b Mohit 1 (2b), Moeen Ali (not out) 9 (4b, 1x6). Extras (B-1, LB-2, NB-2) 5. TOTAL (for 7 wickets, 20 overs) 172.
Fall of wickets: 1-87 (Gaikwad), 2-90 (Dube), 3-121 (Rahane), 4-125 (Conway), 5-148 (Rayudu), 6-155 (Dhoni), 7-172 (Jadeja).
Bowling: Mohammed Shami 4-0-28-2 (nb-1), Darshan Nalkande 4-0-44-1 (nb-1), Rashid Khan 4-0-37-1, Noor Ahmed 4-0-29-1, Mohit Sharma 4-0-31-2.
GUJARAT TITANS: Wriddhiman Saha c Pathirana b Chahar 12 (11b, 2x4), Shubman Gill c Conway b Chahar 42 (38b, 4x4, 1x6), Hardik Pandya c Jadeja b Theekshana 8 (7b, 1x4), Dasun Shanaka c Theekshana b Jadeja 17 (16b, 1x4, 1x6), David Miller b Jadeja 4 (6b), Vijay Shankar c Gaikwad b Pathirana 14 (10b, 1x6), Rahul Tewatia b Theekshana 3 (5b), Rashid Khan c Conway b Deshpande 30 (16b, 3x4, 2x6), Darshan Nalkande (run out) 0 (1b), Noor Ahmed (not out) 7 (5b, 1x4), Mohammed Shami c Chahar b Pathirana 5 (5b, 1x4). Extras (LB-2, W-13) 15. TOTAL (all out, 20 overs) 157.
Fall of wickets: 1-22 (Saha), 2-41 (Pandya), 3-72 (Shanaka), 4-88 (Miller), 5-88 (Gill), 6-98 (Tewatia), 7-136 (Vijay), 8-136 (Nalkande), 9-142 (Rashid).
Bowling: Deepak Chahar 4-0-29-2 (w-3), Tushar Deshpande 4-0-43-1 (w-2), Mahesh Theekshana 4-0-28-2, Ravindra Jadeja 4-0-18-2, Matheesha Pathirana 4-0-37-2 (w-7).
Result: CSK won by 15 runs.
PoM: Ruturaj Gaikwad.