Saha's 67 powers GT to seven-wicket win over CSK

Wriddhiman Saha smashed the third fifty of the ongoing season (67*) to power Gujarat Titans to a seven-wicket win over Chennai Super Kings here at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on Sunday.

It was not a memorable day for Chennai Super Kings on the field as the side sunk to their ninth defeat of the season and were outplayed by the Titans in all departments.

With this win, GT maintains their top spot run in the points tally, having gathered 20 points. On the other hand, CSK is at the ninth position in the table with only eight points.

Chasing 134, Gujarat Titans got off a great start, with opener Wriddhiman Saha attacking the Super Kings bowlers aggressively, smashing the pacer Mukesh Choudhary for 12 runs in the first over itself. Saha spared no one in his early overs onslaught, though Choudhary ended up getting the worst of it. Gill from the other end stayed slow from the other end.

While Saha kept piling runs at one end, attacking the likes of pacer Simarjeet Singh and spinner Mitchell Santner in a calculating way, even Gill started to show some aggression in the sixth over, smashing Santner for two consecutive fours.

At the end of the powerplay, GT were right on track, sitting at a healthy 53/0 with Saha (37*) and Gill (15*) having laid a solid foundation for the chase.

With CSK in need of a breakthrough and to restrict the run flow, Sri Lankan medium-pacer Matheesha Pathirana gave the side just that. The IPL debutant struck at his first ball itself, trapping Gill leg-before-wicket for 18 off 17, breaking the 59-run first-wicket stand between the duo.

This brought Aussie southpaw Matthew Wade to the crease, who smashed the debutant for two stylish boundaries, with one being a beautiful flick over backward square leg.

The duo started building the innings for the Titans once again, with some consistent strike rotation. By the end of 10 overs, GT stood at a commanding 81/1 with Saha (43*) and Wade (18*).

In the 12th over of the game, spinner Moeen Ali broke the budding 31-run stand between Saha and Wade, dismissing the latter for 15-ball 20 with help from Shivam Dube, who took a great catch.

This brought captain Hardik Pandya to the crease, who got off the mark by smashing a four with a sweep over deep midwicket. He was eventually trapped by Pathirana for just 7, with Dube catching from the mid-off, reducing GT to 100/3.

Saha eventually brought his third fifty of the season, his 11th overall in the league. He was joined by David Miller on the crease. Both started to rotate strike, with a responsibility to take the Titans over the line without any more fall of wickets.

Eventually, the equation was down to 7 in the final two overs. This proved to be a cakewalk for GT as Saha sealed a seven-wicket win for his side with a four at the first ball of the final over by Pathirana. Saha (67*) and Miller (15*) finished off things for GT and gave their side their tenth win of the season.

Matheesha Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers for CSK with 2/24. Moeen Ali also picked one wicket for CSK.

Earlier, Gujarat Titans restricted Chennai Super Kings to 133/5 in the match No. 62 of the ongoing Indian Premier League 2022 here at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

Ruturaj Gaikwad top-scored for CSK with 53 runs while N Jagadeesan remained unbeaten on 39.

Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, and Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore bagged one wicket each while Mohammed Shami picked two for Gujarat Titans.

Atleast two partnerships bloomed after the early Devon Conway wicket, but the acceleration just wasn't there. Smart bowling from Shami and Yash Dayal in the back end to take pace off.

24 runs from the last 5 overs without a single boundary being scored during that period would have left CSK shattered and abolsutely nothing would appease them now. They set it up well for the final passage but slipped badly during the final laps.

Ruturaj did well again with a fifty but couldn't kick on. Mooen Ali showed some sparks but again faltered. MS Dhoni couldn't put the finishing touches and CSK ended up with a below-par score of 133.

Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings 133/5 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 53, N Jagadeesan 39*, Mohammed Shami 2/19) and Gujarat Titans 137/3 in 19.1 overs (Wriddhiman Saha 67*, Matthew Wade 20, Matheesha Pathirana 2/24).