Jadeja's last ball heroics help CSK clinch record-equalling fifth IPL title

Star allrounder Ravindra Jadeja smashed a six and four in the last two balls and along with vital contributions from other batters helped Chennai Super Kings beat Gujarat Titans by five wickets via DLS method in the rainaffected rescheduled final of the 2023 season to clinch a recordequalling fifth Indian Premier League title at the Narendra Modi Stadium here on Monday nightWith this thrilling win the MS Dhoniled CSK has now equalled Mumbai Indians record for most five IPL titles The 41yearold Dhoni also became the jointmost successful captain titles in 2010 2011 2018 2021 2023 in tournament history along with Rohit Sharma 2013 2015 2017 2019 2022A sensational quickfire fifty from Sai Sudharsan 96 off 41 along with Wriddhiman Sahas vital halfcentury 54 off 39 powered Gujarat Titans to 2144 in 20 oversAlso Read CSK vs GT highlights Sir Jadeja wins it for CSK Chennai clinch fifth trophySudharsan looked flawless throughout his innings and played some breathtaking shots against an indisciplined bowling lineup Apart from Sudharsan and Saha the likes of Shubman Gill 39 off 20 and Hardik Pandya 21 off 12 also made vital contributions with the batChasing a mammoth target CSK scored four runs in the first three balls of the innings with openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway at the crease before rain intervened and stopped the play When the play resumed at 1210 am after a long delay due to a wet outfield the revised target for CSK was to chase 171 runs in 15 oversBoth Conway and Gaikwad came with an attacking mindset and gave CSK a flying start They played some beautiful shots and hammered Md Shami Hardik Pandya and even Rashid Khan and took CSK to 520 in the revised fourover PowerplayGujarat Titans badly needed a wicket and leftarmer spinner Noor Ahmed gave them the crucial breakthrough by removing Gaikwad 26 off 16 Not only Gaikwad but the young Afghan spinner also got rid of the dangerouslooking Conway to put CSK on the back footTwo new batters Impact Substitute Shivam Dube and Ajinkya Rahane were at the crease and had a massive task ahead of them As has been the case with Rahane this season he once again showed his class and played some exquisite strokes to give the muchneeded impetus to CSK inningsThough Dube was struggling to get his timing right Rahane was in fine touch and took CSK to 112 for 2 in 10 overs Just when it looked like CSK were cruising towards the target veteran Mohit Sharma bowled with a great change of pace to pile up the pressure of dots and singles to eventually lure Rahane 27 off 13 ballsThe seesaw battle continued as Dube finished off Rashids over with two successive sixes leaving the fourtime champions to chase 38 runs off the last 18 balls Thereafter Ambati Rayudu who was playing his last IPL game went on to hit 6 4 6 against Mohit to dwarf the target but he got out of the next ballDhoni walked in to bat with 22 needed off 14 and he had the chance to pull off the perfect ending but it wasnt to be as the CSK skipper hit the ball straight to cover for a firstball duck Shami then bowled a fine penultimate over to leave Mohit to defend 13 in six balls as Dube and Jadeja were not able to find boundariesMohit Sharma bowled excellent yorkers and gave just three runs in the first four balls But Jadeja had other plans and he hit a six and four in the last two balls to give CSK a thrilling fivewicket win and record fifth titleEarlier asked to bat first openers Gill and Saha were a bit cautious in their approach in the first two overs against Deepak Chahar and Tushar Deshpande and were helped by some sloppy fielding as wellIn the second over of the innings bowled by Deshpande CSK skipper MS Dhoni placed Deepak Chahar at backward square and Gill hit the ball exactly there but the pacer couldnt catch it which changed the momentum in Gujarats favourFrom there on both Chahar and Deshpande were taken on by Gill and Saha Even spinner Maheesh Theeksana who came to bowl the sixth over was treated severely as Gujarat Titans raced to 620 at the end of the PowerplayIt was Ravindra Jadeja who gave CSK their first breakthrough by removing the dangerous Gill courtesy of a typically quick and incredible glovework from Dhoni Gill dragged his back leg out and with the speed at which Dhoni operates there was just no time for the batter to even consider getting back into the creaseAfter Gills wicket things slowed down a bit for the Gujarat batters Saha and Sai Sudharsan The CSK spinners Jadeja and Theeksana were getting some assistance from the pitch as the Titans reached 861 at the halfway markWith 10 overs to go and nine wickets in hand Sai and Saha decided to up the ante scoring 23 in the next two overs off Jadeja and Matheesha Pathirana giving some impetus to Titanss innings Saha who came to open the innings and looked confident from the beginning hit a Jadeja delivery between short third and backward point to score his fifty off 36 ballsThings were going quite well for Gujarat and Dhoni brought Deepak Chahar into the attack The pacer who didnt have a great night in the field got Saha to topedge a pull and Dhoni took a simple catch leaving Gujarat at 1312 after 14 oversSai Sudharsan was a touch slow through the lull in the middle overs but then decided to tee off The lefthanded batter had skipper Hardik Pandya at the other end but he took the mantle of scoring runs at a high pace Some poor bowling from Theekshana and Pathirana also helped his cause as Sudharsan raced away to fifty off 32 ballsAfter reaching his halfcentury Sudharsan became even more aggressive and clobbered Deshpande for 20 runs in an over with the help of one six and three fours Gujarat were 1732 in 17 overs and looked all set to get a big total on the boardThe next over bowled by Pathirana gave Gujarat just nine runs but Tushar Deshpande was taken to the cleaners by Pandya and Sai Sudharsan for 18 runs as nothing was going well for CSK bowlers against a formidable Titans batting lineupPathirana came to bowl the last over and he was welcomed by sixes in the first two balls However the Sri Lankan pacer had the last laugh as he trapped Sudharsan in front of the wicket ending the lefthanders batting carnage and denying him the chance to score his maiden IPL centuryIn the next three balls Pathirana gave just two runs and also removed Rashid Khan as Gujarat Titans finished with 2144 on the boardBrief scoresGujarat Titans 2144 in 20 overs Sai Sudharsan 96 Wriddhiman Saha 54 Matheesha Pathirana 244 Chennai Super Kings 1715 in 15 overs revised target Devon Conway 47 Ajinkya Rahane 27 Shivam Dube 32 not out Ravindra Jadeja 15 not out Mohit Sharma 336 Noor Ahmad 217 by five wickets via DLS methodThis story has been sourced from a third party syndicated feed agencies Midday accepts no responsibility or liability for its dependability trustworthiness reliability and data of the text Midday managementmiddaycom reserves the sole right to alter delete or remove without notice the content in its absolute 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