Mumbai: Arshad Khan did not smile. Instead, he wore a look of frustration as he pointed to the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) dugout, eyes firmly fixed on Shivam Dube.
On his first ball of the innings, the Gujarat Titans (GT) left-arm pacer bowled a stunner — a good-length ball that swung a touch inwards, catching the inside edge of Dube’s bat. Jos Buttler, the experienced English wicketkeeper who had taken 1341 catches in his career prior to Sunday’s Indian Premier League match at the Chepauk Stadium in Chennai, inexplicably put down a sitter.
On the second ball of the 16th over, Dube tried to hit Arshad over his head, but did not read the bounce and mistimed his shot. Mohammed Siraj needed to charge in a few steps from mid-off to take a regulation catch. Only, he reacted late, struggled to get there in time and put it down. Dube’s sighed in relief, Arshad sat on the surface in anguish.
Next ball, Arshad pitched on length and knocked over Dube’s off-stump.
In many ways, the 28-year-old highlighted how the Titans’ bowling unit would perform on the day — they created their own luck.
Taking advantage of the swing and bounce the pitch was offering, the Titans kept it tight and restricted CSK to 158/7 in their 20 overs. And in the chase, led by Sai Sudharsan’s 46-ball 87, they chased the target with eight wickets and 20 balls to spare.
The win ended the Shubman Gill-led outfit’s two-match losing streak, and it came on the back of an impressive performance with bat and ball, with a few questions being asked of the fielding display.
Deciding to bowl first on a hot Chennai afternoon, the Titans’ quicks hassled and harried CSK’s top-order. Siraj swung the ball with menace, prompting the explosive and experienced Sanju Samson to sacrifice aggression for defence. In the first over, Siraj beat his bat thrice, forcing Sanju to defend twice before finally getting a solitary run off the last ball.
Then came the ferocious pace of Kagiso Rabada.
A length-ball a tad too wide, perhaps, saw Sanju lash at it with minimum footwork. The ball, clocked at 148.2 kmph, caught a nick to give Buttler an easy catch. A few balls later, another delivery that clocked 149.2 kmph saw Urvil Patel, who came down the track, edge a bouncer for Jason Holder at mid-off to take a sitter.
Rabada would eventually finish his spell with outstanding figures of 3/25, adding Kartik Sharma to his collection of wickets.
Siraj too would get in on the act, cleverly bowling a cross-seam delivery to break his streak of outswingers to get the ball to bounce sharply on Sarfaraz Khan, out for a golden duck.
Jamie Overton (18 off 6 balls) provided a much-needed lift at the end, but it was only the CSK captain Ruturaj Gaikwad who held on grittily while wickets continued to tumble at the other end.
Through GT’s miserly bowling and regular wickets – CSK finished the batting powerplay on 28/3 and were at 43/4 after 10 overs – Gaikwad played patiently before eventually letting loose towards the end. His unbeaten 74 off 60 eventually helped the hosts get to a presentable total.
But Sudharsan and Gill started strong. The duo stitched together a 58-run partnership in 31 balls before Sanju stumped Gill with an excellent display of wicket-keeping.
Sudharsan though, continued batting with the same form that saw him score a century against Royal Challengers Bengaluru on Friday. His innings included four boundaries and seven sixes. At the other end, Buttler chipped in with a patient 39 off 30 balls, with a boundary and three sixes – the last finishing the match to take GT to 162/2 after just 16.4 overs.
Saturday’s double-header was an exhibition in power-batting against helpless bowlers who received no aid whatsoever from the pitches in New Delhi and Jaipur.
In the early match on Sunday in Chennai, Chepauk offered the bowlers a chance. GT’s pacers took it.
Brief scores: CSK 158 (Ruturaj Gaikwad 74*; Kagiso Rabada 3/25). GT 162/2 in 16.4 overs (Sai Sudharsan 87, Jos Buttler 39*, Shubman Gill 33*). GT won by 8 wkts.