It was one of those most
patience testing finals… Finally it did
end after three days !! Yes , with a Rain washed match day forcing the use of
the reserve day which it turn had its halts
due to rain and then finally CSK running out deserved winners on Tuesday early
morning.
MSD Dhoni won the toss and
with rain predictions , took the option to bowl first. Little would have MSD
expected a poor bowling and fielding display from his team. Gill should have been a goner at the start,
but Chahar spilled one of Tushar and then Chahar dropped Saha of his own
bowling. At this level, these catches should have been taken , With the
reprieves , the GT openers got off to their rollicking start with Saha being
the aggressor of the two. They tonked the bowling merrily and it required the super
speed reaction of MSD to have Gill stumped. MSD was too good behind the
wickets. And I hear that he does not practice wicketkeeping !
Sai Sudarshan is a solid
player. But he is not the Miller or Tewatia
or Hardik Pandya type who can hit the long ball . At the most steady with a run
a ball or more was his performance till this one. He was compulsorily retired
out in the previous game against MI to increase the scoring rate of GT. And what a good use he made of this final to
make his presence felt. He muscled his way through and for once Hardik Pandya was a spectator – Sudharshan smashed all bowlers
around and cleared the fence with ease.
I was totally surprised at his scoring rate.. If there was a blemish , one false
shot against Orange Cap candidate Tushar ( for the wrong reason😊 ) that
went over third man for a six when it was intended not to go in that direction was an exception. He missed his Century but one more star was born,
Sudarshan has been evolving in his career – have followed him through the local
1st Division League and TNPL and his raise has been purely through
his work ethic for the game. Surprisingly CSK did not buy him although he lead
the Junior CSK team !
Saha can be a pain to any
team.. Not the one to throw his wicket , he is one of those characters that
will fight tooth and nail and make his presence felt. He did the same today as
well.
GT put up a score of 214 to chase and with the
pressure of a final , it was humungous challenge to CSK
CSK fielded badly – bowlers
leaked runs and for the chase most of them would have not given them a chance.
The CSK Run chase began and
the skies opened up.. To me this was advantage CSK even though D/L method may pose
a strict target. Ground
conditions , wet ball that can pose a grip issue to bowlers may have been
slight factors favoring CSK but the revised target was indeed stiff. It
required a consistent 10-12 runs an over and no slip ups. And
mind you three of the GT bowlers were
the top wicket takers of this season. Shami , Rashid and Mohit. So CSK had to
bat very well to get home
The match finally resumed at
12:10 AM . ( nearly a 2 hour break )
Credit to Devon Conway and Rituraj
for the way they approached the chase.
Even one wicket falling would have brought pressure. After a solid promising stand , both fell to
Noor who was the pick of the GT bowlers. Probably the bowler of the match. He
seemed to have got the pitch right and bowled in the right areas and varied his
pace a lot
The batters who followed had
to play Cameos to get CSK home. Rahane did one. But what turned it for a moment
for CSK was Rayudu ,going after Mohit. MSD came in and I thought this man is going to
take CSK home – What a script that would be to draw curtains on this remarkable
CSK run this season.? No , a twist , MSD got a Golden Duck and it was all up to
the last over. Mohit bowled four superb Yorkers. It was ten to get of two balls – And , Mohit missed his length.. That was all that
was needed. Jaddu smacked him for a six and off the last ball, Mohit missed his
line and a tap down the leg side , it was all over. It was a great thriller and
very apt that the match was decided of the last ball. There was nothing wrong
that GT did as a team but it was CSK s day to win the title
The match ended at 1:30 AM
and the prize ceremony took it to 3 AM . But the Crowd was there , patient
cheering MSD , CSK…
CSK team allowing Rayudu to receive the trophy first
showed how much they valued him— and its players --it was Rayudu s last match
MSD continues to rock – Just an unbelievable phenomenon.
Will he play the 2024 edition ? – I cannot wait to see the sea of yellow at the
stadiums , the No 7 Jersey and the chants of Dhoni Dhoni…. Did I hear Jai Dhoni ?
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