Chennai Super Kings Beat Gujarat Titans

Ravindra Jadeja hit a four off the last ball as Chennai Super Kings equaled Mumbai Indians' record for most IPL titles. Sai Sudharsan had propelled Gujarat Titans to a score of 214/4 by smashing 96 off just 47 balls. The 23-year-old Chennai lad smashed eight fours and six sixes in his innings as he made the most of the death overs. Earlier, Wriddhiman Saha scored 54 off 39 on a day when his prolific opening partner Shubman Gill was limited to a score of 39 off 20. Only slight drizzles appeared throughout the GT innings which didn't cause stoppages of any kind.

However, the stoppage came eventually after the third ball of the first over of the CSK innings with heavy rain pouring down at the stadium. While the rain didn't last long, the wet outfield, particularly a problematic practice pitch at the edge of the square, caused the biggest delay.

Finally, the match got reduced to 15 overs and CSK's target was revised to 171. The match eventually resumed and it has been a see-saw affair ever since. Big hits from Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, and Ambati Rayudu helped CSK's cause but Mohit Sharma came in with the important wickets whenever it looked like the opposition was running away with it. Mohit also bowled the last over and brought it down to CSK needing 10 to win off the last two balls. But Ravindra Jadeja ended up smashing the second last ball for a six and the last ball for a four to lead CSK to a five-wicket win and their fifth title.

Five trophies in 14 seasons for CSK, under the captaincy of legend MS Dhoni! Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Gujarat Titans (GT) by five wickets (DLS) in a rain-hit thriller to win their fifth IPL title in a row at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad on Monday (May 29). It was a last-ball finish from Ravindra Jadeja, who hit a four off Mohit Sharma's final delivery to seal a historic win for Chennai. The summit clash was stopped due to heavy rain after which Chennai got a revised target of 171 in 15 overs; 4 overs of powerplay and a maximum of 3 overs per bowler, with both time-outs intact.

CSK was off to an aggressive start with openers Conway and Ruturaj tearing apart GT's star-studded bowling lineup mercilessly. Noor Ahmad helped GT bounce back by dismissing both CSK openers in the same over. Ajinkya Rahane, the next man in, hammered some classy fours and sixes to up the run rate. Rahane's partner Dube struggled initially but finally found his momentum in the final Rashid Khan over, hitting him for two sixes. Late flourish from Rayudu, two sixes, and a four in the 13th over, brought CSK back into the contest. Rayudu got out and Dhoni fell for a first-ball duck. It all went down to 13 CSK needing 13 runs off the last 6 balls.

Mohit Sharma bowled four fiery yorkers in the 20th over but then veteran Ravindra Jadeja finished the game off with a six and a four.

MS Dhoni won the toss earlier and invited Gujarat Titans to bat first in Ahmedabad. The home team gained the upper hand and momentum right from the start of their innings with openers Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha providing a quick start. Chahar dropped Shubman Gill on 2, literally a dolly. After that, Gill went on to hammer some remarkable fours and sixes, helping GT attain 30 runs off the 3rd and 4th over combined.

From here on, GT gained the momentum they wanted to set a big first innings total vs mighty CSK. Jadeja, one of the best fielders of all time, fumbled to miss a run-out chance but in the very same over, he foxed Gill to get CSK their first-ever breakthrough, courtesy of a lightning stumping from legend MS Dhoni.

That missed run-out chance however proved to be too expensive for CSK as Saha went on to score a fifty but it was uncapped Indian batter Sai Sudharsan's batting heroics that were the real game-changer. Sai kept hitting boundaries, irrespective of the bowler he faced. Sadly, he missed out on scoring a well-deserved hundred but did remarkably well.

Chasing the 215-run target in an IPL final was always a mammoth task for CSK. The total set by GT for CSK in the first innings is the highest total in an IPL final to date. KKR's chasing down 200 against Punjab in 2014 is the highest total that has been chased in an IPL Final.