Gujarat Titans beat Chennai Super Kings by seven wickets to take up one of the top two spots in the points table. Despite the win, they have room for a lot of improvement ahead of the playoffs.
Batting first, the Super Kings posted a small total of 137 runs in their 20 overs. Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad top scored with a knock of 53 runs while Narayan Jagadeesan was the second best performer with an unbeaten 39. A target of 138 was never going to be enough for the table toppers, but they took longer to wrap up the game than they should have.
Gujarat wrapped up the chase in the last over with a major chunk of contribution coming from Wriddhiman Saha, who remained unbeaten on 67 off 57. The likes of Shubman Gill and Matthew Wade got starts but were not able to construct a valuable knock. All the batsmen batted at poor strike rates which eventually took the game to the last over.
Earlier in the game, Gujarat put up an impressive bowling show with Mohammed Shami picking up two wickets and Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph and Sai Kishore picking up one each.
Hardik Pandya as a first-time captain has impressed one and all. “I would say I did pretty alright because having played in a previous franchise where a lot of responsibility was given to us as well and the kind of cricketer I am, I have always enjoyed responsibility where it kind of gives me ownership of things where I can control.
Playing for a different franchise and doing what I have done in the past has helped me in my captaincy,” the Gujarat skipper said in the post-match conference.
Image credit: IPL
