Gujarat seal a spot in the Qualifier 1 in Kolkata while as many as eight teams continue to relay back and forth in a gripping race for three playoff spots.
GT 134/3 in 19.1 overs: There's the winning runs, Gujarat assures a top-two finish! CSK succumbs to its ninth defeat and also now scents the possibility of finishing 10th at the end of the league stage.
GT 133/3 in 19 overs: Mukesh returns. Miller gets a single to long-off. Saha slides one down to short third for another run. Mukesh comes around the wicket to Miller who pushes the ball once again to long-off for a run. Mukesh hits the blockhole and there's another single. Two to win off seven. The match stretches to the final over as Saha finishes with another run. Six singles off it!
GT 127/3 in 18 overs: GT inches closer to the finish line. Saha and Miller in no rush to get the chase wrapped up. Pathirana fires one in the blockhole outside off-stump with that extremely jerky action.
GT 121/3 in 17 overs: Solanki keeps the ball wide off Saha's reach. Saha reaches out to poke it deep to long-on for a single. The ball pushes into Miller and he flicks it fine for one run. Saha misses the sweep and Dhoni flicks the bails with lightning speed. Saha has his foot behind the crease but Solanki does well with a beautifully tossed up delivery.
TIMEOUT
GT 113/3 in 16 overs: Simarjeet bumps one in past Saha's gloves to Dhoni. Seems like no contact there. Saha flicks the ball to deep mid-wicket and gets a single. Low full-toss and Miller pummels the ball through cover for FOUR.
Simarjeet replaces Pathirana
GT 108/3 in 15 overs: Miller and Saha exchange strike with singles. No looseners from the young Solanki. Four runs come off the over.
GT needs 30 runs in 36 balls
GT 104/3 in 14 overs: Pathirana to Hardik. OUT! Pathiran squares up the GT skipper with some excellent deception. He rolls his fingers over the ball towards the pads and the change of pace induces a leading-edge straight to the mid-off fielder. Miller in at 5. FIFTY for Saha as he holds one end safe with a brilliant knock.
Hardik Pandya c Dube b Pathirana 7 (6b 1x4)
Pathirana is back
GT 100/2 in 13 overs: Solanki returns with a sharp leg-break that nearly squares up Hardik off the middle-stumps. He gets a leading edge but it falls out of harm's length. A couple of singles to follow.
GT 96/2 in 12 overs: Moeen to Wade. OUT! Wade chips it straight to long-on. He shimmies down the track to attack the flighted delivery and gets a toe-edge as the bat slips out of his hand. Hardik in at 4. Hardik drags a off-break first ball through wide long-on for FOUR.
Matthew Wade c Dube b Ali 20 (15b 2x4)
GT 90/1 in 11 overs: Santner finds some sharp turn and ball beats Wade and Dhoni to skim down for FOUR runs. Width on offer and Saha slaps the ball through extra cover for two runs.
GT 81/1 in 10 overs: Moeen tosses on up and Saha drives it straight to the cover fielder. Similar length to follow and Saha drives it to the deep cover fielder for a single. Wade reverse sweeps to cover for a single to finish.
Moeen Ali into the attack
TIMEOUT
GT 76/1 in 9 overs: Santner rushes through another quiet over. Wade completes a streaky double and a dive saves him from a direct hit at the striker's.
Santner returns
GT 71/1 in 8 overs: Wrapped on the pads and Pathirana strikes first ball as the umpire raises his finger. The ball rushes past Gill's low blade onto his front-pad. GT opt for a review. Replays suggest THREE REDS and Malinga 2.0 has his first strike in the big league. Matthew Wade in at 3. Pathirana rushes one down leg, wide. Pathirana hits the slot and Wade pumps it down the ground for a blistering FOUR. Another ball strays down leg and Wade quickly flicks it past backward square for FOUR.
Shubman Gill lbw b Pathirana 18 (17b 3x4)
Matheesha Pathirana replaces Santner
GT 59/0 in 7 overs: The leggie maintains a tight line and the batters exchange strike with five singles on the trot. Saha shimmies down the track but Solanki quickly sends in a slider to induce an inside-edge. Good start for Solanki as Gill finishes the over with a single.
Debutant Prashant Solanki into the attack
GT 53/0 in 6 overs: Santner drops the ball on length and Gill unleashes the paddle over the inner-circle for FOUR. FOUR more for Gill. Santner slides one down leg and Gill tilts to smack the ball past short fine-leg for another FOUR. A flourishing PowerPlay for GT as CSK concedes 53 runs.
GT 45/0 in 5 overs: Simarjeet nips the ball into Saha's pads and the inner-circle has a brief interest in an appeal. Dhoni is unmoved as the ball is seemingly sliding down leg. Short ball and Saha muscles it over mid-wicket for a cracking SIX! Simarjeet pushes one further up and Saha drills it down the ground for another FOUR.
GT 35/0 in 4 overs: Two dots to Shubman to start. Short ball and Gill drops deep into the crease and pulls it firmly past mid-wicket for FOUR. The batters sneak a quick single.
Mitchell Santner into the attack
GT 29/0 in 3 overs: Mukesh touches full and Saha pumps the ball over mid-on for FOUR. Mukesh quickly tails one in off the length and Saha attempts a swivel but misses. In the air and put down at point! Ruturaj is the man as Saha offers a straightforward chance. Mukesh keeps the ball and wide and draws Saha into a slice. Gaikwad loses the ball for a moment in the sun and drops a sitter. A wry smile on the face of the bowler. Saha in the mood! Mukesh errs with another delivery in the slot and Saha nonchalantly pummels the ball over mid-off for another FOUR.
GT 19/0 in 2 overs: Simarjeet hits the deck first-up and Shubman pulls the ball to the short mid-wicket fielder. A single to follow as he nudges the ball towards square leg. Simarjeet keeps the ball just outside-off and yet Saha carves it past backward point for FOUR. Seven runs from the over.
Simarjeet Singh from the opposite end
GT 12/0 in 1 over: Saha opens his account with a streaky inside-edge that trickles past Dhoni for FOUR. Mukesh overpitches and Saha goes for the drive but the ball takes an under-edge and zips through. Beaten. Mukesh hits the perfect length to whiff past Saha's blade. Top-edge and the ball sails over Dhoni for SIX. Saha leaving everything on the line now. A hint of room and Saha glides the ball past first-slip for FOUR. A dot to finish.
Mukesh Choudhary takes the new ball.
Back for the chase. Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill at the middle for GT.
Not a single boundary hit in the last five overs. The last big hit was a six, hit on the last delivery of the 15th over. The Titans' bowling has been impeccable. Shami set the tone with an early wicket. CSK seemed to get going and then the innings stalled. Once Gaikwad departed in the 16th over, there was no one to apply the finishing touches. Join us, in a bit, for the run chase.
Jagadeesan: "The wicket was sticky, two-paced. We were fifteen-twenty runs short. Everyone's got their own plans, all about execution. It's game on and we can do it. Fast bowlers are key; it's tricky for batters to go after them. Spinners are also in business."
CSK 133/5 in 20 overs: Shami bowls the final over. Full delivery, on off-stump, driven for a single. Can Dhoni cheer the crowd with some big hits? He tries the helicopter stroke but can only pick up two runs as the ball travels to fine leg. Short ball, Dhoni pulls and is caught out! Fielder at short midwicket takes the catch.
Mitchell Santner comes out to bat. Digs out a yorker and picks up a single. The batter comes across tot he off-side for a slog-sweep but the ball goes past the leg-stump - just about, and it's not a wide. The batter hits the last ball to long-on for two runs.
M. S. Dhoni c Yash Dayal b Shami 7 (10b)
CSK 127/4 in 19 overs: Yash Dayal comes on for his third over. Bowls a wide yorker. Dot ball.
Then bowls a slower ball but it's a wide. Too wide outside the off-stump. The batter comes across to the off-side for a sweep shot but is deceived by this one And another. It's a similar delivery.
Oh and Jagadeesan lofts a slower delivery to long-on. But there's not much timing on that so it lands safely. Yorker-length delivery outside off-stump, dug out by the batter. Jagadeesan hits a length ball to long-off for a single. Dhoni digs out a yorker to cover and picks up a single. A wide yorker again, and the umpire signals a wide. Full delivery, on off-stump, driven to deep extra cover for a single by Jagadeesan to keep strike.
CSK 119/4 in 18 overs: Jagadeesan sweeps Rashid for a single. Dhoni then plays out a dot ball, defending back to the bowler. Dhoni picks up a single off a full toss.
Dot ball. Single. Then a dot ball to finish off as Dhoni goes back in his crease to defend.
Just three singles from this over.
CSK 116/4 in 17 overs: Alzarri Joseph bowls short of a length. Jagadeesan pulls to long-on for a single. It reaches the fielder after bouncing once. Oh and Shivam Dube is out on the second delivery he faces! It's a fast, short delivery, Dube attempts a pull, the ball takes the edge of the bat, hit the helmet, and goes through to the wicketkeeper.
Dhoni comes out to bat. Defends the first delivery - it's on a good length outside the off-stump. Short of a length, on off-stump, defended from the crease. On a good length outside the off-stump, Dhoni cuts to deep point for two runs.
Shivam Dube c Saha b Joseph 0 (2b)
CSK 113/3 in 16 overs : Rashid comes on to bowl his third over. The first ball is a googly outside the leg-stump, the batter goes back in his crease and pulls for a single. Driven to long-on for a single. Gaikwad comes down the pitch for a big hit but can't put bat to ball. No run. Then he hits the ball to deep midwicket for a single.
Short delivery - it's a googly. Pulled to deep midwicket for a single. Gaikwad comes down the pitch and hits out - holes out to the man at deep midwicket! Did it come from the toe end of the bat? That's a huge wicket.
Ruturaj Gaikwad c Matthew Wade b Rashid Khan 53(49b, 4x4, 1x6)
CSK 109/2 in 15 overs: Sai Kishore bowling his fourth over. Full toss, on off-stump, Gaikwad drives for a single and reaches his half-century! Jagadeesan comes down the pitch and smashes the ball past the bowler for four runs!
Jagadeesan tries to play the reverse sweep but can't put bat to ball. Then drives the ball to long-off for a single. Some room outside the off-stump, cut by Gaikwad for a single. The fielder at point dives to stop the ball. Oh and six runs! It was a long-hop and Jagadeesan pulls well to deposit the ball in the stands beyond deep midwicket.
CSK 96/2 in 14 overs: Shami is back into the attack. Jagadeesan makes room, slams the ball to long-off for a single. Short of a length, on middle-stump, Gaikwad pulls to deep midwicket for a single.
Shami attempts a yorker, ends up bowling a full delivery but not quite a yorker. The batter flicks to midwicket for a single. Another full delivery, this time the batter drives to long-on for a single. Jagadeesan makes room and cuts the ball to sweeper cover for another single.
Gaikwad comes down the pitch again and flicks the ball to midwicket for a single to keep strike. He is on 49.
CSK 90/2 in 13 overs: Sai Kishore continues. A single off the first delivery.
Slower delivery from Sai Kishore, Jagadeesan tries to cut but gets a top edge and the ball flies through third man for four runs. The batter steers the ball to point for a single. Gaikwad comes down the pitch for a belligerent hit, doesn't reach the pitch of the ball, the ball hits the toe-end of the bat and flies away to deep square leg. There's no timing on that, so the ball lands safely before before the fielder picks up the ball.
Dot ball. Then Jagadeesan goes for a slog-sweep but can only pick up a single as the ball races to the fielder at deep midwicket.
TIME OUT.
CSK 82/2 in 12 overs: Alzarri Joseph back into the attack. Starts off with a yorker outside the off-stump. Squeezed out to point by the batter. No run. Then Jagadeesan leaves one alone outside the off-stump. Jagadeesan makes room and drives the ball to mid-off for a quick single.
A boundary at last! Gaikwad gets a full delivery and flicks the ball to deep midwicket. Nice improvisation. Comes down the track, drives the ball to mid-off. No run. That last delivery was bowled at 48kph. It's followed by a slower delivery, Gaikwad pulls to short fine leg for a single.
CSK 76/2 in 11 overs: Jagadeesan comes down the pitch to R. Sai Kishore but doesn't get hold of his slog, clumsily hits it to deep midwicket for a single. Gaikwad steers the ball to sweeper cover for a single. Full delivery, on off-stump, Jagadeesan drives and picks up a single.
A yorker from Sai Kishore. Dug out by Gaikwad. On a good length, outside off-stump, left alone. Comes down the pitch but drives the ball to cover for no run. Another quiet over.
CSK 73/2 in 10 overs: Yash Dayal comes on to bowl his second over. A good-length delivery is defended by Gaikwad and the batters decide to run a quick single. Slants the ball across the right handed Jagadeesan, who leaves it alone. Then he comes down the track, slaps a short delivery to long-off for a single. Slower delivery, full, defended by the batter.
Short, pulled by Gaikwad. A good stop by Matthew Wade at midwicket. No run. Short of a length on middle stump, Gaikwad turns the ball to the leg side for two runs.
CSK 69/2 in 9 overs: R. Sai Kishore into the attack. A slip in place for him.
Starts off with a full delivery on leg-stump, turned to the leg side by Gaikwad for a single. Moeen Ali tees off, but can't get much leverage on his stroke and the ball travels to deep midwicket. A single is taken. Gaikwad pulls out his sweep and picks up a single through fine leg. WIDE.
Moeen tees off again and he's out! Holes out to the man at deep midwicket! That's a big wicket. Full, on leg-stump, and N. Jagadeesan, the new batter, gently tucks the ball behind for four runs! Tries to repeat the stroke but can't put bat to ball. A gently shout for lbw but the ball would have been going down leg.
Moeen Ali c Rashid Khan b Sai Kishore 21 (17b, 2x6)
CSK 61/1 in 8 overs: Some width on offer, Gaikwad cuts the first ball of Rashid's second over to deep point. The fielder at sweeper cover comes around and saves a boundary. Two runs. Gaikwad then nudges the ball to point for a single.
Two more singles.
Oh and someone shouts 'catch' after Moeen slaps a short of a length delivery to long-off. The ball is in the air and lands in the vacant region beyond mid-off. A single to leg to finish off.
CSK 54/1 in 7 overs: Alzarri Joseph into the attack. Bowls on a good length, outside off-stump but there's not too much width. Defended. No run. Slightly fuller, similar line, Gaikwad comes on to the front foot and defends. Gaikwad defends again, the ball trickles to backward point - the batters pinch a quick single.
On the hips of Moeen, who tucks the ball to fine leg for a single. Short of a length, on middle-stump, it was sitting up to be hit - Gaikwad pulls to deep square leg for four runs. 50 up for CSK. A single picked up through third man on the final delivery.
CSK 47/1 in 6 overs: Time for spin. Rashid Khan is into the attack now.
Gaikwad comes down the pitch to him and lofts the ball clumsily to square leg. Two runs taken. Didn't reach the pitch of the ball, and there wasn't any timing on it. Single.
On a good length, on off-stump, played back to the bowler by Moeen. Rashid bowls the googly, but it's too short - Moeen pulls the ball to deep midwicket for six runs! And six more! Fuller - Moeen pulls out his slog-sweep. That went into the stands!
Punched through cover for a single.
TIME OUT
CSK 30/1 in 5 overs: Yash Dayal into the attack. A big lbw shout! The umpire doesn't give it out; Hardik doesn't go for the review. Signals to his team that no review would be taken. And rightly so - the ball pitched outside the leg-stump.
Gaikwad charges down the pitch to Dayal. Converts a back of a length delivery to a length delivery and slams the ball to long-on for four runs! And six runs! Gaikwad pulls a short delivery to fine leg! Runs galore as the batter tucks the ball past short fine leg for four more!
Gaikwad tuck the ball to midwicket and picks up a quick single. Last delivery - outside off-stump to Moeen, who tries to cut but gets an under-edge. No run.
CSK 15/1 in 4 overs: Single off the first delivery off Hardik's second over. Gaikwad defends the next one. On a good length, Gaikwad defends but this time the ball travels to backward point for a single. On a good length again, no room, Moeen can only defend from his crease.
Full, on leg stump, flicked to leg for a single. Back of a length, Gaikwad turns the ball to midwicket. Single.
CSK 11/1 in 3 overs: Shami strikes! Gets rid of Conway. It's in the corridor, pitches on a good length, slightly moves away after pitching, Conway edges behind. Moeen Ali, the No. 3, stands up tall to defend a good length delivery.
First runs for Moeen as he tucks the ball away to fine leg for a single. Short of a length, outside off-stump - Gaikwad steers the ball to third man for a single. Moeen flicks, but finds the fielder. No run. Last delivery: a thick outside edge off the bat of Moeen, the ball travels to third man. One run only
Devon Conway c Saha b Shami 5 (9b)
CSK 8/0 in 2 overs: Hardik Pandya to bowl the second over.
Slants it across the left-hander, left alone by Conway. It's a no-ball. A half-volley on leg stump, flicked to midwicket for a single. Gaikwad picks up a single through square leg, before Conway defends a couple of good-length deliveries. Then another dot - drives to extra cover.
Short of a length, on middle stump, angling across - Conway defends and picks up a single to keep strike.
CSK 4/0 in 1 over: Mohammed Shami to bowl the first over. The players are wearing black arm-bands to mourn the death of Andrew Symonds . Starts off with a good-length delivery on off-stump, defended by Gaikwad. Followed up by a similar delivery, slightly straighter, defended again. Slightly fuller, defended off the front foot by the batter.
First runs of the day - Gaikwad gets a good-length delivery on his hips and tucks the ball to fine leg for a single. Oh and beaten! Shami switches to over the wicket to Conway; it's on a good-length, in the corridor, Conway is beaten. A full delivery, flicked to the leg side by Conway for three runs.
---
1525 IST : A sea of yellow in the stands. Some fans wearing purple cheering for the Titans as well. Umpires come out to take their positions, the Titans come out, too, after a pep talk by Hardik, and CSK's openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway come out as well. All set for action!
1510 IST : CSK coach Stephen Fleming says the team is very keen to finish well. "Can't finish with a whimper," he says.
1500 IST : TOSS - CSK wins toss, Dhoni chooses to bat. Says it's a simple decision, it's hot. Four changes in the line-up: Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, Dwayne Bravo and Theekshana make way for N. Jagadeesan, Solanki, Mitchell Santner and Matheesha Pathirana. No change in the line-up for the Titans
1455 IST : PITCH REPORT - The pitch is dry, suitable for spinners. Spinners can have more of a say than fast bowlers on this pitch, says Danny Morrison.
1445 IST : The venues have seen overwhelming support for CSK when it plays, and today is likely to be no different at the Wankhede even though the team is out of the race for the playoffs. The team will need to buck the trend, though, to please the fans as it is yet to win a game at the Wankhede this season, losing to the Knight Riders, Punjab Kings and Mumbai Indians here.
PREVIEW
One team is an IPL newbie. The other is a four-time champion. One has already qualified for the playoffs. The other has been eliminated from the race to the last four. On paper and form, the IPL 2022 match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday looks like a mismatch.
But the Titans will feel this game represents an excellent chance to test their bench strength and iron out the wrinkles if any. For CSK, it's about which Super Kings team will turn up - the Delhi Capitals-dominating one , with all three departments in perfect harmony, or the one that slumped to its second-lowest IPL total in the very next match and lost by five wickets to the Mumbai Indians?
Titans have been phenomenal in Powerplay. They've picked up 24 wickets (first place) at an economy rate (ER) of 7.45 (second best). Mohammed Shami's 10 wickets inside the first six at an ER of 6.12 will keep the CSK top-order on its toes, especially after it was disintegrated by the Mumbai seamers and reduced to 32 for 5 in the Powerplay.
Rashid v Conway
Rashid Khan vs Devon Conway could be a very important duel too if the latter can survive the initial pace burst. Conway has the best strike-rate vs spin (196.5) in IPL-15 among all batters, with a minimum of 100-plus runs against spin bowling.
In 12 matches so far, Rashid has 15 wickets at an ER of 6.79. However, in the two matches at the Wankhede this year, Rashid has just one wicket while conceding 72 runs at an ER of 9.00. Now, Rashid could look to bowl on the fuller side of a good length to Conway to give him less time to adjust off the pitch. But Conway's horizontal bat shots — sweep and reverse sweep — and ability to also step out to spinners should hold him in good stead.
ALSO READ - DRS absence hurt CSK against MI - Fleming
Rashid and debutant R. Sai Kishore had combined figures of 6 for 31 in Titans' 62-run win vs Lucknow Super Giants in the last match. Between overs 7 and 16, CSK scores at 8.58rpo (third best), so the Titans spin duo will have its job cut out. Rashid has a distinct advantage over one of the three CSK middle-order batters. He has got Moeen Ali out three times in four innings while going for just 36 in 26 balls.
In Ruturaj Gaikwad and Conway, CSK has a robust opening pair. The two have one half-century and two century stands in just five innings.
In the bowling department, Mukesh Choudhary has been a revelation with the new ball. His match-up with Gujarat's top-order will set the tone. At the Wankhede this year, pace has trumped spin with fast bowlers picking 118 wickets and spinners only 53; that should prop him up.
Meanwhile, Ambati Rayudu created a stir on match eve after deleting a tweet where he had said IPL 2022 would be his final season. It was later learned that the CSK brains trust spoke to Rayudu , who then took down the tweet.
All said and done, the Super Kings will believe the travails of this season herald an imminent new dawn. After all, the lows of 2020 gave way to a fourth IPL title for CSK last year.
As for the Titans, the sprint to the finish starts now.
- Ayan Acharya
PREDICTED XIs
CSK vs GT PREDICTED XI
Squads
AT WHAT TIME DOES TODAY'S IPL 2022 MATCH - CSK vs GT START?
The IPL 2022 match between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans begins at 3:30 PM IST.
WHERE TO WATCH TODAY'S IPL MATCH -
CSK vs GT LIVE?
IPL 2022 will be aired live on
Star Sports channels -
Star Sports 1 ,
Star Sports 1 HD ,
Star Sports 3 and
Star Sports 3 HD . It will also be streamed live on
Disney+Hotstar . You can also follow the live commentary and latest updates from IPL 2021 on
Sportstar .
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