The defending Indian Premier League (IPL) champions Gujarat Titans won a thrilling match against Chennai Super Kings in the opening match of the IPL 2023 season.
Been asked to bat first after losing the toss, Ruturaj Gaikwad played a brilliant inning and missed out on a century by a just. In the end, CSK posted 178 runs on the board.
Chasing the target, Shubman Gill led the charge for the home team but in the end, it was Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia who rescued Gujarat Titans from a losing position having been always on the winning position in the match.
Opening the inning, Wriddhiman Saha played some cracking shots before he was dismissed for 25 runs. But then after, Shubman Gill played a brilliant inning as he scored 63 runs in 36 balls.
However, after them, the other batters failed to deliver the big innings. In the end, Gujarat needed 18 runs in 9 balls Rashid Khan and Rahul Tewatia on crease. Rashid Khan smashed 10 runs in 2 balls while Rahul Tewatia gave the finish touch with a Six and a boundary in the last over.
Batting first, it seemed there were 2 halves of Chennai Super Kings (CSK), where the one end was struggling to score big runs, on other end, Ruturaj Gaikwad was smashing the ball really easily.
Gaikwad scored 92 runs in 50 balls with a strike rate of 184. Gaikwad smashed 4 fours only but he sent 9 balls directly over the fence. Other than him, Moeen Ali looked good before he was dismissed for 23 runs by Rashid Khan.
MS Dhoni also played with free hands as he scored 14 runs in 7 balls. Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph and Mohammed Shami all bagged 2 wickets each while 1 wicket also belongs to debutant Josh Little, who though conceded 41 runs.
After this, Gujarat Titans will play their next match on the 4th of April vs Delhi Capitals, whereas Chennai Super Kings will play a day earlier on the 3rd of April vs Lucknow Super Giants. The 2nd match of the IPL 2023 will be played between Punjab Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders on 1st April while the 2nd match on the day will be played Lucknow Super Giants vs Delhi Capitals.