MS Dhoni ki captaincy mein CSK ne toss jeetke pehle batting ka faisla liya, aur ye decision full paisa vasool nikla. Dewald Brevis ne pitch ko “batting-friendly” bataya, aur wahi pitch par CSK ne GT ki bowling ki dhajjiya uda di.
Openers Ayush Mhatre aur Devon Conway ne shandaar shuruaat di. Conway ne sirf 34 balls mein apna half-century pura kiya — full form mein dikhe bhai! Uski shots elegant aur aggressive dono thi. Powerplay mein CSK ne mazedaar batting ki, jo iss season mein unke liye thoda struggle wala phase raha hai.
Lekin jaise hi Conway ne apna 50 complete kiya, Rashid Khan ne usse out kar diya. Thoda momentum gira, par phir Brevis aaya crease par — aur bhai ne fire laga diya. Uski batting mein power, placement aur perfect timing sab kuch tha. Death overs mein toh GT ke bowlers ko literally park ke bahar maar diya.
Jadeja, Shivam Dube jaise players ne bhi apna part perfectly play kiya. CSK ne final total 230 banaya — ek dum boss level score!
GT ki Bowling Ne Kaha “Na Bhai Na”
GT ke bowlers, Shubman Gill ki leadership mein, pressure mein dikh gaye. Sirf Prasidh Krishna ne thoda decent bowling ki — baaki sab toh line aur length bhool gaye. Siraj, Coetzee, aur Sai Kishore ko CSK ke batsmen ne sabak sikha diya.
Rashid Khan ne Conway ka wicket zaroor nikala, par uske economy rate par bhi kaafi maar pad gayi. GT ke bowlers pitch se help expect kar rahe the, par yahan toh ball sirf bat se baat kar raha tha.
GT ka playing XI kaafi solid tha — Gill, Buttler, Rutherford, Rashid, Siraj, etc. — lekin bowling execution weak nikla. Kagiso Rabada ki jagah Coetzee aaye the, par unka bhi koi khas impact nahi tha.
Match ka Bada Maayne
GT ke liye yeh match crucial tha. 13 matches mein 18 points ho gaye the, aur agar yeh match jeette toh seedha Qualifier 1 milta. Haarne par unhe Eliminator khelna padta — jo thoda risky hota hai.
CSK toh already playoffs se out ho chuki thi — bas pride aur Dhoni ke liye khel rahe the. Table ke bottom mein baith ke GT ko harana — ab isse kehte hain “Mic drop” moment!
Narendra Modi Stadium ki pitch full batting wali thi, aur Dhoni ne toss jeetke batting choose karke smart move kiya. GT ki bowling iss decision se kabhi recover hi nahi kar payi.
GT ki Chase ki Tension
230 ka chase karna waise hi pressure game hota hai — upar se GT ne shuruaat hi bigaad di. 7th over tak hi unke top 3 — Gill, Buttler, aur Rutherford — pavilion mein the. Score: 44/3.
CSK ke bowlers Anshul Kamboj aur Khaleel Ahmed ne solid bowling ki — swing aur bounce ka use karte hue GT ko early damage de diya. Sai Sudharsan aur Shahrukh Khan ne rebuild karne ki koshish ki, lekin required run rate sky high ho gaya tha.
Dhoni ka Emotional Angle
Iss match ka ek aur angle tha — MS Dhoni ka future. 2020 se log retire hone ka wait kar rahe hain, aur har match uska “last” lagta hai. Is baar bhi wahi vibes the. Agar yeh unka last IPL match tha, toh boss — kya exit mara hai!
CSK ne poori series mein struggle kiya, lekin season ke aakhri match mein GT jaise strong team ko hara ke ek strong message diya: “We’re not done yet.”
Conway aur Brevis ki half-centuries ne GT ke bowling attack ko tor diya, aur CSK ke bowlers ne early breakthroughs leke match almost pehle 10 overs mein hi palat diya. GT ne playoffs zaroor qualify kiya, lekin top-2 finish miss karna unke liye bada jhatka hoga.
