Source : INDIA TODAY NEWS
Brief Scores: Gujarat Titans (162/2 in 16.4 ovs) beat Chennai Super Kings (158/7 in 20 ovs) by 8 wickets at MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai.
A struggling Chennai Super Kings were not able to maintain their high of demolishing Mumbai Indians from earlier this week, after they faltered at home against Gujarat Titans on Sunday, April 26. Playing an afternoon game under a baking sun at Chepauk, CSK were obliterated by Shubman Gill’s GT, who looked desperate to return to winning ways.
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The stars aligned for Gujarat on Sunday when they won the toss at Chepauk. Going against conventional wisdom in a day game, Shubman Gill decided to bowl first in the sweltering heat of Chennai. The decision seemed dictated by the logic that the groundstaff had watered the pitch more than usual, in fear that the pitch would dry out due to the excessive heat.
CSK vs GT, IPL 2026: Highlights | Scorecard
GT’s gamble paid dividends straight away as the pitch not only seemed two-paced, but showed variable bounce as well. The good-length and just-short-of-good-length deliveries put the CSK top order in trouble, and they failed to score easy boundaries in the powerplay.
The GT bowlers had started with fuller-length balls, but reverted to good-length and occasional short balls when they realised that some balls held onto the surface, while others skidded. This confusing nature of the pitch eked out three wickets in the powerplay for GT.
CSK lost Sanju Samson, Sarfaraz Khan and Urvil Patel and ended up scoring just 28 runs.
After Kagiso Rabada and Mohammed Siraj used the moisture on the pitch to best effect, GT’s left-arm spinner Manav Suthar got rid of Dewald Brevis in the 9th over. Brevis’ wicket was a difficult watch. Trying to hit a no-look six, Brevis ended up skying the ball, which fell into the safe hands of Shubman Gill, standing at cover.
Meanwhile, Ruturaj Gaikwad perhaps struggled his hardest in the IPL, amassing just 18 runs in the first 10 overs. Gaikwad’s 18 runs had come off 27 balls, to no fault of his own. From the same spot on the pitch, some balls had kept low, some had bounced up, some had skidded on, while some had gripped.
It took a sharp bouncer from Gujarat’s fourth seamer, Arshad Khan, to wake Ruturaj up.
Arshad’s first ball of the 13th over hit Rahane high on his shoulder and prompted a medical break. After that, Gaikwad threw caution to the wind and slammed two sixes in the next three balls.
CSK, who took 12 overs to breach the 50-run mark (the longest in IPL history), were suddenly looking to hit things out of the park.
Gaikwad combined with Shivam Dube to add 59 off 43 balls, before Dube’s stumps were uprooted by Arshad Khan. This phase of play also saw an absolute meltdown in the field from GT, where Jos Buttler and Rashid Khan dropped catches.
Rashid did not really cover himself in glory on Sunday, first giving away 21 runs in his first over. Later in the 18th over, Rashid and Manav Suthar misjudged a high catch at deep mid-wicket, waiting for each other to come and complete the catch.
CSK took their chances, rode their luck, and finished with 158 runs on the board, guided by Ruturaj Gaikwad’s fighting 74* off 60 balls.
GT USE THE HEAVY ROLLER
CSK had a chance if the pitch behaved in the same manner in the second innings as well. But Gujarat used the heavy roller before coming out to bat, which flattened out the awkward bounce of the wicket.
Shubman Gill and Sai Sudharsan started on a brisk note, well, as brisk as they can be, and added 55 runs in the powerplay. Shubman was the first to fall, courtesy of some excellent glovework from Sanju Samson, who took the bails off in a flash while collecting a wide ball down the leg side from Noor Ahmad.
But Shubman’s wicket did little to dent GT’s momentum, as Sai Sudharsan kept a cool head and guided the chase with a solid 87 off 46 balls. Sudharsan’s partner at the crease, Jos Buttler, however, struggled mightily, as the effects of the heavy roller started disappearing after the 10-over mark.
However, CSK simply did not have enough runs on the board to challenge GT, who reached the target in 16.4 overs, helping them snap their two-match losing streak. The CSK fans started walking off the ground around the 12th over of the chase as the hosts died a slow death on the Chennai pitch on Sunday.
The win meant that GT stayed close to the top-four positions and did not fade away in the mid-table logjam, while CSK were left second-guessing the home conditions once again, which were expected to be batting-friendly throughout the season.
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SOURCE :- TIMES OF INDIA
