Like most Indian venues, Chepauk is used to the chants of ‘Sachin, Sachin’ while cheering the nation’s most celebrated cricketer, Sachin Tendulkar, in his playing days.
Figuring in only his second IPL match, Rachin Ravindra found a way into the hearts of the city’s passionate fans, who quickly belted out ‘Rachin, Rachin’ as the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) opener produced another impressive cameo that laid the foundation for the defending champion’s thumping 63-run win over Gujarat Titans at the MAC Stadium on Tuesday.
His rapid 46 (20b, 6x4, 3x6), followed by fellow-southpaw Shivam Dube’s 23-ball 51 (2x4, 5x6), powered CSK to 206 for six after being asked to bat.
Early setback
The Titans’ batters never looked like chasing it down after Deepak Chahar removed openers Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha inside the PowerPlay. B. Sai Sudharsan and David Miller tried to forge a fightback, adding 41 runs for the fourth wicket, but the former struggled to get the big shots going as the CSK pacers kept a tight leash on proceedings.
Surprisingly, the home team used only one spinner — Ravindra Jadeja — with pacer Matheesha Pathirana playing in the second half as an ‘Impact Player’ in place of Dube. Once Tushar Deshpande accounted for David Miller and Azmatullah Omarzai, both caught in the deep, the writing was on the wall for the visitors.
Earlier, Ravindra smashed Titans’ pacers Umesh Yadav and Omarzai all over the park with the typical elegance associated with left-handers. He started by flicking Umesh off his hips for a six, over square leg, to signal his intentions, and from there on, was pretty much unstoppable.
The 24-year-old played some delectable shots, with clean hits down the ground and when the bowlers pitched short, he pulled them into the stands with disdain.
Then, Dube, the Super Kings’ designated batter to take on spinners, played his role to perfection, lofting R. Sai Kishore for consecutive sixes off the first two balls he faced before dispatching Rashid into the crowd by getting down on his knee and using his long reach to telling effect.
Sameer Rizvi gave the Chennai innings the final flourish as he swept Rashid, who got a pounding on the day, for a six off the first ball he faced before launching him over long-off to take the host past 200, a score well beyond Gujarat’s reach.
The teams
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad (capt), Rachin Ravindra, Ajinkya Rahane, Daryl Mitchell, Shivam Dube, Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, MS Dhoni (wk), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman. Substitutes: Matheesha Pathirana, Shardul Thakur, Shaik Rasheed, Nishant Sindhu, Mitchell Santner
Gujarat Titans; Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill (capt), Azmatullah Omarzai, David Miller, Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, R Sai Kishore, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma, Spencer Johnson. Substitutes: Sai Sudharsan, BR Sharath, Abhinav Manohar, Manav Suthar, Noor Ahmad.
Scoreboard
Chennai Super Kings
Ruturaj Gaikwad c Saha b Johnson 46 (36b, 5x4, 1x6), Rachin Ravindra st. Saha b Rashid 46 (20b, 6x4, 3x6), Ajinkya Rahane st. Saha b Sai Kishore 12 (12b), Shivam Dube c Vijay Shankar b Rashid 51 (23b, 2x4, 5x6), Daryl Mitchell (not out) 24 (20b, 2x4), Sameer Rizvi c Miller b Mohit 14 (6b, 2x6), Ravindra Jadeja run out 7 (3b, 1x4); Extras (lb-1, w-5): 6; Total (for six wkts. in 20 overs): 206.
Fall of Wickets
1-62 (Ravindra, 5.2 overs), 2-104 (Rahane, 10.1), 3-127 (Ruturaj, 12.3), 4-184 (Dube, 18.2), 5-199 (Rizvi, 19.3), 6-206 (Jadeja, 19.6).
Titans Bowling
Omarzai 3-0-30-0, Umesh 2-0-27-0, Rashid 4-0-49-2, Sai Kishore 3-0-28-1, Johnson 4-0-35-1, Mohit 4-0-36-1.
Gujarat Titans
Wriddhiman Saha c Deshpande b Deepak Chahar 21 (17b, 4x4), Shubman Gill lbw b Deepak Chahar 8 (5b, 1x6), Sai Sudharsan (Impact Player in place of Mohit) c Rizvi b Pathirana 37 (31b, 3x4), Vijay Shankar c Dhoni b Mitchell 12 (12b, 1x6), David Miller c Rahane b Deshpande 21 (16b, 3x4), Azmatullah Omarzai c Ravindra b Deshpande 11 (10b, 1x4), Rahul Tewatia c Ravindra b Mustafizur 6 (11b, 1x4), Rashid Khan c Ravindra b Mustafizur 1 (2b), Umesh Yadav (not out) 10 (11b, 1x6), Spencer Johnson (not out) 5 (5b, 1x4); Extras (lb-2, w-9): 11; Total (for eight wkts. in 20 overs): 143.
Fall of Wickets
1-28 (Gill, 2.5), 2-34 (Saha, 4.3), 3-55 (Vijay Shankar, 7.3), 4-96 (Miller, 11.5), 5-114 (Sai Sudharsan, 14.5), 6-118 (Omarzai, 15.2), 7-121 (Rashid, 16.2), 8-129 (Tewatia, 18.2).
Super Kings Bowling
Deepak Chahar 4-0-28-2, Mustafizur 4-0-30-2, Deshpande 4-0-21-2, Jadeja 2-0-15-0, Mitchell 2-0-18-1, Pathirana (Impact Player in place of Dube) 4-0-29-1.
Toss: Titans; PoM: Dube.
CSK won by 63 runs.
