Chennai Super Kings bowling coach Dwayne Bravo praised their young bowling lineup after CSK's victory against Gujarat Titans in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 Final on Monday.
This season CSK lacked a quality experienced bowler in their squad. It was visible in the powerplay as well as in the death overs as CSK ended up leaking a lot of runs on various occasions. On multiple occasions, CSK went on to concede 200-plus runs. Still, they figured out a way to make up with the depth in their batting.
"It has been good, very happy with the team and this journey. Got to give credit to this team. We are all happy and proud to see these young bowlers take on the pressure. (On Tushar Deshpande) Happy with his progress, enjoyed working with him and all the other guys. I hope my best friend Kieron Pollard is watching, he has some catching up to do," Bravo said after the match.
Even CSK's head coach Stephen Fleming pointed this fact out and praised the young bowlers as they stepped up in crucial situations to do the job for their team.
"We have like 20-odd players and 15 coaching staff. It's a caravan of people but at the end of the day, you're all just sitting and watching helplessly. (On developing players) He's (Pathirana) been massive. We have been a little bit short in the bowling department so Tushar fronted up. We have enough talent there with Chahar, Simarjeet and a few others. With Pathirana, the backend all of a sudden became a weapon for us," Fleming said after the match.
Coming to the match, a 67-run stand between Shubman Gill (39 in 20 balls) and Wriddhiman Saha provided GT with a solid start. Then came a 64-run stand between Saha and Sai Sudarshan. Saha was dismissed for 54 off 39 balls, which had five fours and a six.
Sudarshan smashed 96 in just 47 balls, with eight fours and six sixes. He stitched an 81-run stand for the third wicket with skipper Hardik Pandya, who scored 21 off 12 balls.
Matheesha Pathirana took 2/44 in four overs. Deepak Chahar and Ravindra Jadeja took a wicket each.
The match was delayed due to rain. After the resumption, CSK was set a revised target of 171 runs in 15 overs. Openers Devon Conway (47 in 25 balls) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (26 in 16 balls), provided a platform with a 74-run stand for the first wicket. Despite Ajinkya Rahane's quickfire 27 in 13 balls and Ambati Rayadu's 19 in eight balls, Mohit Sharma scripted a comeback for GT with his tight bowling. He also got Dhoni out for a golden duck.
CSK needed 13 runs in the final over. But Mohit could not defend it as Jadeja denied GT a win with a match-winning four on the final ball.
Mohit was the pick of the bowlers for GT, taking 3/36 in his four overs. Noor Ahmed (2/17) was also impressive with the ball.
Brief Scores: GT: 214/4 (Sai Sudharsan 96, Wriddhiman Saha 54, Matheesha Pathirana 2/44) lost to CSK: 171/5 in 15 overs (Devon Conway 47, Shivam Dube 32, Mohit Sharma 3/36).
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