Defending champions Gujarat Titans have defeated Chennai Super Kings by 5 wickets in Indian Premier League 2023 season opener at the Narendra Modi Stadium tonight. A closely fought contest provided a fitting beginning to the 16th season of the biggest T20 league in the world.
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Titans opening batter Shubman Gill (63) managed to transform his supreme international form into a T20 tournament on the back of scoring an 18th half-century in the format. Opening the batting with wicket-keeper batter Wriddhiman Saha (25), Gill hit six fours and three sixes at a strike rate of 175 to be the top-scorer for his team.
Other than Saha, Gujarat all-rounder Vijay Shankar (27) and Impact Player Sai Sudharsan (25) also contributed to in a winning cause but it was all-rounders Rahul Tewatia (15*) and Rashid Khan‘s (10*) efforts in the business end of the match which allowed them to score 23 runs in a couple of overs (four balls to spare) to seal the highest successful T20 run chase at this venue.
GT vs KKR Man of the Match Today
It was GT captain Hardik Pandya (0/28 & 8) who asked Super Kings to bat first in Ahmedabad on a Friday night. Before Gill expressed himself, Chennai opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (92) registered a 21st T20 half-century consisting of four fours and nine sixes at a strike rate of 184.
Visiting captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (14*) rolled back the clock for a brief period but wasn’t able to touch the 200-run mark which his team looked to surpass till the time Gaikwad was batting.
One of the main reasons for not letting CSK post an above par innings total, Rashid Khan picked bowling figures of 4-0-26-2 to not only stop the incessant flow of runs but also pick crucial wickets of Moeen Ali (23) and Ben Stokes (7) in the sixth and eighth over respectively.
Having also hit a four and a six within the three balls that he faced in the last two overs, the 24-year old player was adjudged the Player of the Match and rightly so.
It doesn’t matter which shirt he’s wearing, which city, which team, which opposition, which situation, which competition…Rashid Khan is a match-winner pure and simple. pic.twitter.com/XFqvFlHlN7
— Aatif Nawaz (@AatifNawaz) March 31, 2023
“So happy to get this crucial Man of the Match [award]. Will give me a lot of the energy for the rest of the competition. [Batting improvement] It is all thanks to the time we spend in the nets, and the confidence given to me by the coaching staff and captain Hardik [Pandya]. I’ve been batting a lot and the results are there to see,” Rashid told host broadcaster Star Sports Network during the post-match presentation ceremony.
