Deepak Chahar’s sensational catch, running full tilt back and to his right from mid-off and sticking one hand out to grab Mohammed Shami’s offering, encapsulated Chennai Super Kings’s drive and desire at the MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday night.
Awash with the omnipresent yellow that has become the colour theme of the city, the audience rose as one to celebrate both the stunning catch off the last ball of the match and their beloved team’s entry into the final of the IPL for a stunning 10th time in their 14 years of existence.
Chahar could so easily have allowed the ball to fall well short of long-on; after all, Gujarat Titans needed 16 off that one delivery, a mathematical impossibility. Instead, the man with the proclivity to pick up injuries at the drop of a hat showed the agility of a gazelle to hunt the ball down, providing the fitting final act on a night that oozed emotion and purpose.
Chennai’s 172 for seven, built on Player of the Match Ruturaj Gaikwad’s beautifully crafted 60, was always going to challenge the defending champions, no matter that they possessed a mighty batting line-up with Shubman Gill in the vanguard. After all, they were up against master tactician Mahendra Singh Dhoni and a bunch of bowlers, perfectly equipped to exploit the grip and turn on offer.
Gill, coming off successive tons, tried his utmost, eschewing natural flair for a more circumspect approach in deference to the conditions, but with the rest of his batting colleagues deserting him and the required rate mounting, he too wilted under pressure.
“We could have chased better,” conceded Vijay Shankar, Gujarat’s Impact Player who came in at No. 6 and managed a 10-ball 14. “We could have got the game much closer. They bowled pretty well in the middle overs and we lost wickets. It is just about losing a wicket at the wrong time. Maybe a partnership of 20-30 runs in the middle could have got us closer.”
Chennai believed 160 was a par score. That they got to 172 was thanks largely to the opening salvo of 87 between Gaikwad and Devon Conway. “In Chennai, with the big boundaries, you have to find the gaps and manoeuvre some shots and that is what I feel Conway has been doing well,” Gaikwad said, heaping praise on his left-handed partner from New Zealand and happy to share the credit. “That’s why he has been successful.”
Also Read: IPL 2023: Mumbai eliminate Lucknow
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