Shivam Dube (51 off 23 balls) and the pacers’ collective performance led a clinical Chennai Super Kings to outplay Gujarat Titans by 63 runs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai on Tuesday and register their second
consecutive win in the ongoing IPL.
Consistency is turning out to be a powerful tool for Dube to brighten his prospects at the highest level. Following an unbeaten 28-ball 34 as an ‘Impact Player’ in the IPL 2024 opener against Royal Challengers Bengaluru last Friday, Dube produced another crucial innings after a flying start from openers Rachin Ravindra (46 off 20 balls) and captain Ruturaj Gaikwad (46 off 36 balls), powering the Super Kings to 206/6 after they were put into bat.
Deepak Chahar with Mahendra Singh Dhoni after dismissing Gujarat Titans captain Shubman Gill on Tuesday, in a picture shared on X.
Thereafter, Deepak Chahar got his line right to dismiss the Titans’ strong opening pair of Wriddhiman Saha and captain Shubman Gill with only 34 on the board in the fifth over.
Since then, the Super Kings never really lost their grip on the game before Tushar Deshpane picked up David Miller and Azmatullah Omarzai. Impact Player Matheesha Pathirana (in for Dube) took the key wicket of the impressive Sai Sudharsan (37).
Former CSK captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni, at 42, took a stunning catch in between to effect the dismissal of Vijay Shankar off Daryl Mitchell’s bowling.
Mustafizur Rahman, CSK’s hero against RCB with four wickets, accounting for Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia towards close had practically confirmed the defending champions’ victory as the Titans finished at 143/8.
All in all, it turned out to be a near-perfect game for the Super Kings as almost everything went their way.
Earlier, it was Ravindra who provided CSK with the necessary momentum. Filling in the shoes of his injured New Zealand teammate Devon Conway, Ravindra’s swashbuckling knock — during which he was severe particularly on Umesh Yadav — comprising six boundaries and three maximums gave the Super Kings just the kind of start they would have wished for.
CSK fans at the Chepauk on Tuesday. IPL
Captain Gaikwad tried to anchor the innings, but his dismissal in the 13th over off Spencer Johnson led to a drop in the Super Kings’ scoring rate.
However, the form which Dube is in at present, he made sure he made the right shot selections to cash in on the chance to make another strong statement of his abilities with the bat.
The short stuff is something that tends to pose a bit of a problem for the left-handed batter. He hasn’t looked too comfortable dealing with the short-pitched balls in the past. But Tuesday was indeed an exception as Dube got his execution right on most
occasions when tackling the short ball or back-of-a-length deliveries.
When he finally perished off Rashid Khan in the 19th over, the Super Kings had already gone past 180 and were on course to reach 200. Young Sameer Rizvi (14 off 6 balls) then ensured Dube’s effort didn’t go to waste.
Rizvi, the costliest uncapped player at last December’s auction at Rs 8.4 crore, nonchalantly smashed ace leg-spinner Rashid for a couple of maximums in that same over to boost CSK’s total.
Costly drop
R. Sai Kishore dropped a sitter at slip, giving Gaikwad a reprieve in the very first over, with Azmatullah Omarzai being the unlucky bowler.
The Chennai Super Kings skipper, on just 1 then, edged an away-going delivery from Omarzai but Sai Kishore spilled what was a pretty easy chance.
Had the Titans got Gaikwad’s wicket then, things could have been different.
