Jadeja hits last ball four as Chennai Super Kings wins fifth IPL title, beats Gujarat Titans

I’ve had some time to catch up on my breath. What a frenetic finish that was. The pendulum swung frantically. CSK got off to a flying start, thanks to Conway and Gaikwad. But GT fought back through their slower ball bowlers, especially Noor Ahmad, who snapped up both openers in one over. Ambati Rayudu, who has now retired from the IPL, turned the game on its head with a flurry of boundaries. Rayudu’s dismissal threatened to rob CSK of the momentum as Mohit Sharma and Mohammed Shami dragged GT back into the contest. Sharma was bowling an excellent last over until with 10 needed off 2, he lost his length and line. That was all the invitation Jaddu needed as he smashed a six and a four to seal a memorable win.

That will be all from our side. Thanks for joining us.

Mohit Sharma to bowl the final over. Dube on strike. Mohit starts with an inch-perfect yorker. 13 off 5 now. Mohit delivers another yorker, Dube can only dig it out for one. 12 off 4 with Jaddu on strike. 11 off 3 as Jadeja can only eke out a single off the third ball. What an over. Mohit bowls another yorker and Dube can only hit it away for 1!

Jadeja hits a six off the fifth ball! Its 4 needed off 1! Jadeja hits a four off the last ball to seal the fifth title for CSK!

What a dramatic win for Dhoni and his men, off the last ball.

Shami bowling the penultimate over. Jaddu gets a single first ball. Shami to Dube, dot. Shami to Dube, 2. He mishits a pull but gets two. Shami to Dube, 2. Shami to Dube,1. Shami to Jaddu, 2 runs.

Mohit into the attack. He disappears over long-off, Rayudu dismissing a slot ball over the fence. Rayudu smashes the second ball for four. Rayudu hits the third for six. The sequence of the first three - 6,4,6. Rayudu holes out next ball! He falls for an eight-ball 19.

LOUDEST ROAR IN THE STADIUM AS MS DHONI WALKS OUT TO BAT! CSK need 22 off 14.

Dhoni is caught first ball! Anticlimactic end! Jaddu walks out to bat. Single to finish. Two wickets and 17 from the over. Chennai Super Kings need 21 runs in 12 balls

Rashid to Rayudu, 1 run. Rashid to Dube, 1 run. Rashid to Rayudu, dot ball. Rashid to Rayudu, 1 run. Dube smacks a straight six off the fifth ball. He hits another maximum off the last ball!

TIME-OUT! CSK need 38 off the last three.

Mohit to Dube, 1 run. Mohit to Rahane, 1 run. Mohit to Dube, 2 runs. Again, excellent running between wickets. Mohit to Dube, 1 run. Rahane perishes after a wonderful cameo - that’s Mohit’s 25th wicket! The lack of pace does the trick. Rayudu off the mark with a single. Just six runs and a wicket.

Super Kings need 53 runs in 24 balls.

Rashid Khan to Dube, 1 run. Rashid Khan to Rahane, 1 run. Rashid Khan to Dube, 2 runs. Excellent from Dube, game awareness... brisk double as he is fully aware that as a LH batter, he has to attack Rashid. Rashid Khan to Dube, 1 run. Rashid Khan to Rahane, who collects two back-to-back fours. 13 from the over. Super Kings need 59 runs in 30 balls.

Noor Ahmad to Rahane, 1 wide. Noor Ahmad to Rahane, 1 run. Noor Ahmad to Dube, 1 run. Noor Ahmad to Rahane, 1 run. Noor Ahmad to Dube, dot ball. Stumping appeal referred upstairs. Dube is safe. Single and a dot to finish an excellent spell: Noor - 3-0-17-2

Ajinkya Rahane in at No. 4. Little into the attack. Little to Dube, 1 run. Little to Rahane, 2 runs. Rahane smacks a 83m maximum, clubbed over midwicket. Little to Rahane, no run. Rahane gets another half a dozen with a straight six. Beautiful. 1 off the last. 16 off it.

Noor Ahmad to Gaikwad, 1 run. Noor Ahmad to Conway, 1 run. Gaikwad’stop-edge lands in Rashid’s hands at backward point. Impact Player Shivam Dube walks out. Noor Ahmad to Dube, 1 run. Noor AHmad to Conway, 2. Excellent running between the wickets by the Kiwi left-hander. Noor concedes a wide. But the extra ball earns GT a wicket; the danger man Conway caught for 47. What an over from Noor. 6 runs and 2 wickets.

Little into the attack now. Little to Conway, 2 runs. Little to Conway, 2 runs. Little to Conway, 1 run. Little to Gaikwad, 1 run. Little to Conway, 2 runs. Conway clubs the last ball over deep midwicket for six. 14 from it. Super Kings need 99 runs in 54 balls.

TIME OUT!

Noor Ahmad is into the attack. Excellent from Noor. Just six from it in the end. Super Kings need 113 runs in 60 balls.

Here’s Rashid for the last over the PowerPlay. Conway punches the first ball past backward point for four before taking a single next - 1 leg bye. Rashid conceded two singles before being hit over long-off for six by Gaikwad. Gaikwad cuts the last ball past backward point for four. 17 from the over.

Conway is teeing off. He greets Shami with a first-ball four. He makes it eight off two with yet another boundary. Conway picks a single off the third ball. Dot, single, single to end the over. 11 from it.

Hardik Pandya will share the new ball. Conway on strike with a slip in place. Hardik starts with a dot. But Conway steps out next ball, gives himself some room and launches it over cover point for six. Conway and Gaikwad pick a single each off the next two balls. Hardik takes pace off but ends up conceding a wide. He then errs in line next ball, straying on pads and duly put away to the fine leg fence by Conway. Conway pinches a single off the last ball and keeps strike.

Conway and Gaikwad to resume the chase. We’ve had a two hour and 20 minute-long delay. Gaikwad gets a leading edge off the first ball he faces after the break. He runs two. Shami has the ball. Gaikwad finishes the over with a boundary.

Play to start at 12.10 am. 15 overs will be bowled. Revised target is 171! Each bowler can bowl three overs. PowerPlay is now four overs.

The next inspection is at 11.30 pm.

The umpires were out to inspect the outfield. The conclusion they have arrived at is that there will be another inspection at 11:30 PM IST. After 11:45 PM IST, we will start losing overs.

There will be an inspection at 10.45pm. The rain has stopped, but the last pitch on the square is extremely wet.

11.45pm is the cut-off for losing overs.

5-over par scores for CSK:

43 for 0

49 for 1

56 for 2

65 for 3

We still have two hours before we start losing overs

Gaikwad and Conway walk out to bat.. Shami will take the new ball. Josh Little is the Impact Player, replaces Sai Sudharsan. Gaikwad to face the first ball. Slip in place. Gaikwad’s off the mark with a boundary but the heavens have opened up! The players are scurrying off the field. Remember we need at least five overs to constitute a chase!

Gujarat Titans finish on 214, the highest score in an IPL final. The Titans rode on Sudharsan’s brilliant 47-ball 96. Sudharsan started slow but shifted gears after reaching his 50. He smacked 34 off 14 against Pathirana, denting CSK’s hopes of mounting an offence through their trusted death bower. The wheels came off CSK’s bowling on a flat track, with Deshpande feeling the brunt more than others. CSK would also rue a series of lapses in the field, which included two dropped chances.

CSK have to bat out of their skin to chase this. Back shortly.

UPDATE: We will have a delayed start to the chase. It’s drizzling in Ahmedabad and the covers are on!

Good news: The covers are coming off....

Sai Sudharsan has teed off in terrific fashion. He goes 6, 6 in two balls. Sudharsan has been given out lbw off the third ball. He has reviewed it but looks plumb. That’s out. End of a majestic knock. Sudharsan falls for a 47-ball 96. Rashid Khan walks out with three balls to go in the innings. Rashid, on strike, steals a bye and gets Hardik on strike for the last two balls. This is now the highest score in an IPL final! Leg-bye again, off the fifth. Rashid is caught off the last ball.

The wheels are coming off Deshpande’s bowling. He goes full and wide first ball and Hardik smashes it over deep extra. Sudharsan moves into the eighties now with a boundary off the fourth ball. Hardik ends the over with a maximum! Runs are bleeding. Deshpande tonight 4-0-56-0.

Pathirana to bowl his third. No boundaries but GT still eke out nine from the over, which included a single from a ricochet off the stumps at the non-striker’s end.

What happened there? Sudharsan was looking to hit the first ball over fine leg but the edge flies over third man for six. He follows it up with a four. Make that a hat-trick of fours as Sudharsan slaps the third ball down the ground for four more. Sudharsan is in some form; he carves the fourth ball over cover for four more. This is some acceleration. Single off the fifth ball. Hardik digs out the last ball for a single, 20 from the over. GT eyeing a big finish!

Pathirana is back, Hardik off the mark with a single. Pathirana is crankiung it up this over, the second one is clocked at close to 149 kph. Dot ball. Next ball, Sudharsan brings up his 50 off 33 balls, with a four. Sudharsan celebrates with another boundary next ball, CSK have been extremely sloppy in the field. 10 from the over.

Hardik Pandya walks out to bat. Theekshana to bowl out. Theekshana to Sudharsan, dot ball. Theekshana bowls a full toss now, and Sudharsan smacks it for six. Sudharsan collects half a dozen again off the fifth ball, slog swept for six. That was in the slot and punished. 12 off the over.

Chahar is back into the attack. Sudharsan collects a couple each off the first two balls. Sudharsan picks one off the third ball. Saha takes a single off the fourth ball. Sudharsan pinches a single off the penultimate ball. Chahar has been taking pace off this over. He is rewarded with a wicket at last, Saha caught off the last ball. Saha undone by the slow leg-cutter.

TIME OUT!

Jadeja to Sudharsan, 2 runs. Jadeja to Sudharsan, one run. Saha brings up his 50 off 36 balls, with a four. The 50 partnership has also come up. Sudharsan slog sweeps the penultimate ball over deep mid-wicket for six. Runs starting to flow now. 1 run to end the over. 15 from it.

Sudharsan welcomes Pathirana into the attack with a glorious cover drive for four. Pathirana concedes a wide next ball. Sudharsan steers the second legal ball through the off side four four, excellent use of Pathirana’s angle. Sudharsan guides the next ball to third-man for a single. Meanwhile, Pathirana bowls another wide. Saha picks a single off the next legal ball. Pathirana bowls a dot. Single to finish.

It has started drizzling! The groundstaff is getting ready with the covers.

Jadeja to Saha, four to third man. Jadeja to Saha, one run. Jadeja to Sudharsan, 2 runs. Sudharsan picks up a single next ball. Jadeja to Saha, 1 run. Sudharsan takes a single off the last ball. 10 off. CSK wouldn’t mind that so long as they do not concede a flurry of boundaries.

Theekshana continues. Spin choke on. Theekshana to Sudharsan, 1 run. Theekshana to Saha, 1 run. Theekshana to Sudharsan, dot ball. Theekshana to Sudharsan, one run. Theekshana to Saha, 2 runs. Theekshana to Saha, 1 run. 6 off the over.

Saha greets Jadeja with a delectable cut for four. Jadeja to Saha, 1 run. Jadeja to Sudharsan, 1 run. Jadeja to Saha, 1 run. Jadeja to Sudharsan, dot ball. Jadeja to Sudharsan, one run.

TIME OUT!

Sudharsan in at 3. Theekshana is on. Theekshana to Saha, 1 run. Theekshana to Sudharsan, 1 run. Theekshana to Saha, 1 run. Theekshana to Sudharsan, dot ball. Theekshana to Sudharsan, 1 run. Theekshana to Saha, 1 run.

Jaddu into the attack. Saha gets a second reprieve on the second ball. Gill calls for a quick brace and Saha hadn’t made it back at the non-striker’s end. But Jaddu did not collect the ball cleanly and broke the bails without the ball in hand. But Jaddu still has the last laugh! He beats Gill with the turn and Dhoni whips the bails off in a flash with Gill’s foot clearly out of the crease!

Spin for the first time. Theekshana into the attack. Theekshana to Saha, dot ball. Theekshana to Saha, single. Theekshana to Gill, four more. Fielding lapse from Conway costs CSK more runs. Gill follows it up by going over off-side to collect four more. He sweeps the Lankan tweaker to the deep square leg fence. Theekshana ends the over with a dot. 13 from the last PowerPlay over.

Chahar continues. Another chance dropped but this was tough. Saha toe ended it back to the bowler and the ball burst through Chahar’s one-handed attempt. FOUR! Cut away behind point by Gill for a boundary. Imperiously pulled away to deep midwicket for one more. Saha scoops this slower delivery to fine-leg for two more. Saha keeps strike with a single.

Deshpande continues. Gill greets him with a trademark half-swat, half-pull for four. Gill follows it up with a seamless pickup shot for four. Gill makes it a hat-trick of fours with a disdainful drive to the long-off fence. Gill picks a single off the fourth ball. Saha pinches a risky single off the penultimate ball, and Jaeja takes down the stumps at the striker’s end. But Gill is safe. Dot to finish. 14 off the over.

Chahar to Saha, SIX, over deep mid-wicket. Chahar to Saha, dot ball. Chahar to Saha, clubbed over in-field for four more. Saha is shifting gears. Chahar to Saha, four more, this time over extra cover. Chahar to Saha, two runs. Chahar to Saha, dot ball. 16 off the over.

Tushar Deshpande shares the new ball. Deshpande to Gill, dot ball. Deshpande to Gill, one run. Deshpande to Saha, one run. Deshpande to Gill, DROPPED! Chahar has dropped an absolute dolly at square leg. Dear Lord! The batters run a single. Dot and one to finish.

Saha and Gill to open the batting. Chahar has the new ball. Slip and short third in place for Saha. Chahar starts with an innocuous dot, little bit of swing. Chahar to Saha, dot again. Chahar to Saha, off the mark with a single off the third ball. Gill opens his account as well, with a single. Chahar to Saha, one run. There’s the big inswinging ball. Gill ends the over with a single.

Gujarat Titans (Playing 11): Wriddhiman Saha(w), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Hardik Pandya(c), Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami

Chennai Super Kings (Playing 11): Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Deepak Chahar, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana

MS Dhoni has won the toss and CSK will bowl first!

Both teams are unchanged.

Meanwhile, N. Sudarshan pings from Ahmedabad: The ground is filling up, players are out practising and Ravi Shastri’s booming voice is filling the air ahead of the toss.

More promising news from the Stadium. It’s bright and sunny in Ahmeadabad two hours prior to start of the play

Chennai Super Kings 1 - 3 Gujarat Titans

Our man on the ground, N. Sudarshan, is reporting clear, blue skies from Ahmedabad at the moment. That said, there is forecast for showers later today. Let’s see...

Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, B. Sai Sudharsan, Wriddhiman Saha, Matthew Wade, Rashid Khan, Rahul Tewatia, Vijay Shankar, Mohammed Shami, Alzarri Joseph, Yash Dayal, Pradeep Sangwan, Darshan Nalkande, Jayant Yadav, R. Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad, Dasun Shanaka (replacement), Odean Smith, KS Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Urvil Patel, Joshua Little, Mohit Sharma.

MS Dhoni (c), Devon Conway, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Ambati Rayudu, Subhranshu Senapati, Moeen Ali, Shivam Dube, Rajvardhan Hangargekar, Dwaine Pretorius, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Tushar Deshpande, Matheesha Pathirana, Simarjeet Singh, Deepak Chahar, Prashant Solanki, Maheesh Theekshana, Ajinkya Rahane, Ben Stokes, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Sisanda Magala (replacement), Ajay Mandal, Bhagath Varma, Akash Singh (replacement).