Synopsis: Top-heavy Titans crush CSK bowling before their bowling class put an end to their season in an emphatic manner.
Gujarat Titans seem to be getting into the groove at the perfect time. An all-round awesome performance put the Chennai Super Kings out of their misery as the five-time champions were thrashed by 89 runs. A target of 230 was always going to be too high against a bowling attack of GT’s class, and CSK’s sorry season ended with being bowled out inside 14 overs.
Openers shut case
They or their strokeplay are unlike anything expected of a typical T20 opening partnership these days. But Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill continue to get the job done, while being easy on the eye. Thursday brought their seventh century partnership in the IPL, as they set up Gujarat Titans’ impressive victory over Chennai Super Kings, that put the latter finally out of playoff contention.
It’s not that Sai and Gill didn’t improvise or play around with the bowlers’ lines and length. But there was no slogging – in fact, on the rare occasions they tried something outside their regular repertoire, it didn’t work out.
T20 cricket is a format largely associated with big hits and sixes. But the two shots that showcased Gill’s class came in the second over of the match. Aussie left-armer Spencer Johnson offered a bit of room and the Titans skipper stood tall to the hard-length ball. The bat made contact at the precise moment to impart the optimum timing and the ball sped past point to the boundary.
Later in the over, Gill played a delightful front-foot straight drive to a delivery that was not quite a half-volley, but the timing and placement had watchers drooling. It was the captain who made most of the early running, but Sai was biding his time. His consistency belies the law of averages in this format—Thursday’s knock was his fifth consecutive half-century of the tournament and seventh in his last eight visits to the crease.
The leg-side arc is the preferred scoring area for most batters in the shortest format, and the CSK bowlers tried to deny them that outlet. But Gill and Sai were a couple of steps ahead of them, repeatedly making room to hit through and over the offside. It was only when left-arm wrist-spinner Noor Ahmad came on that the cow corner was targeted. The 125-run stand in a little over 12 overs was match-defining and CSK skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad was left to rue not challenging a caught-behind not-out verdict relatively early on against Gill.
Sai Sudharsan and Jos Buttler powered GT to a massive finish. (CREIMAS)
Buttler backs up
When Jos Buttler is in full flow, it’s tough to imagine that this batter couldn’t buy a run not too long ago. The IPL seems to have liberated the England veteran, who must be considered one of the greats of the format.
He arrived in the middle in the 13th over, but still managed an unbeaten 57 off just 27 balls. That unfettered bat-swing made good contact with the ball on Thursday and it was sent into the crowd on four occasions.
Buttler didn’t indulge in any cute ramps and focused his attention in front of the wicket and square of it, after tickling a leg-side offering to fine-leg on the first ball he faced.
In his element, Buttler makes finding boundaries ridiculously easy. That’s why he is equally effective outside the Powerplay. Hitting sixes seems child’s play even though he doesn’t come across as a heavily-built man. Two step-hits over wide long-on off Noor got him going, but he also seemed to find gaps in the field almost at will.
The wide yorker is a ball notoriously difficult to hit, if the bowler gets it right. Buttler stays deep in the crease and hammers the ball through cover.
If Titans’ opening partnership regularly puts the opposition on the back foot, what follows them often sucks the life out of bowlers, effortlessly.
Attack, in every sense
‘Batters win sponsorships, bowlers win championships’.
This is an adage often repeated in cricket, and it’s a template that Titans seem to follow to a T. That’s what makes an above-average total almost impossible for an opposition to chase down against their bowling might.
And their attack isn’t made up of many so-called T20 experts. The likes of Mohammed Siraj, Kagiso Rabada, Jason Holder and Rashid Khan – even Prasidh Krishna – will not be out of place in any format of the game.
The lengths Siraj and Rabada bowl with the new ball is akin to what may be seen in the first morning of a Test. Siraj snared Sanju Samson first ball with one that shaped away and took the outside edge on its way to the wicketkeeper, before he hit the top of Gaikwad’s off-stump. Urvil Patel’s leg-side hoick betrayed desperation.
Rabada’s extra pace makes the big hit a risky proposition, and Rashid’s accuracy and variations are too much to handle for late-order batters. They, like Siraj, finished with three wickets apiece.
But any hopes that CSK may have had to chase down 229 and stay alive were dashed by Siraj’s opening burst. Shivam Dube tried to inject some jeopardy in the middle overs with a 17-ball 47, but it couldn’t have lasted long against such a high-class attack.
Brief scores: Gujarat Titans 229/4 in 20 overs (sai Sudharsan 84, Shubman Gill 64, Jos Buttler 57 not out) beat Chennai Super Kings 140 all out in 13.4 overs (Shivam Dube 47; Rashid Khan 3/18, Mohammed Siraj 3/26, Kagiso Rabada 3/32) by 89 runs
