In a night full of thrills and chills, Mahendra Singh Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings lifted the IPL trophy for the fifth time after defeating defending champions Gujarat Titans by 5 wickets. The victory made CSK go on level with Mumbai Indians who have also won the prestigious trophy 5 times.
Coming to the match, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field. Despite the tough bowling conditions, Chennai’s bowlers found it hard to break through Gujarat’s batting order. Tamil Nadu-born Sai Sudharshan was the highest score for the defending champions; scoring 96 runs off 47 balls. Sudharshan’s clever batting enabled Gujarat Titans to breach the 200-run mark.
The second innings was marred with rain. After a couple of hours of rain intermission, play began with revised conditions. Chennai Super Kings needed 171 runs off 15 overs. Although CSK were on track, they lost wickets on regular intervals. However, Shivam Dube; who’s been a totally different player this season found able partners in Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja to win the game for his team.
Ravindra Jadeja who hit the winning runs was seen celebrating in front of his home crowd. In a post-match interview, he stated, “Feeling amazing winning fifth title in front of my home crowd. They’ve come in big numbers to support CSK. This crowd has been amazing. They were waiting for rain to stop till late night. Want to say big congratulations to CSK fans. Want to dedicate this win to one of the special members of our team – MS Dhoni.”
Losing skipper Hardik Pandya was full of praise for his team. He said, ” I think we tick a lot of boxes as a team. We play with a lot of heart, really proud of the way we kept fighting. We have a motto – we win together, we lose together. I’m not going to make excuses, CSK played the better cricket.”
The 16th edition of IPL has truly been a remarkable one. While Shubman Gill (890 runs) won the Orange Cap, his teammate Mohammad Shami (28 wickets) took home the Purple Cap. Young batting sensation Yashasvi Jaiswal won the Emerging Player of the Tournament. The left-hander made 625 runs at a strike rate of 164. Rashid Khan won the award for Catch of the Season, for his catch of Kyle Mayers in the GT vs LSG game. In addition, Delhi Capitals won the Fairplay Award.
That’s it for this edition of IPL. Which was your favourite moment from this season? Drop your answers in the comment box.
