Chennai Super Kings vs Gujarat Titans, Final (Reserve day) - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

IPL TITLE NO. 5 for CSK

What a finish! The defending champions took the game right till the final two balls where Ravindra Jadeja nicked it away from them. A late, truncated chase but worth every penny spent by the patient crowd that stayed back for it.

That was a scintillating finish to what has been a great season of the IPL. Neither side was sure to win until the very end. Even as Mohit Sharma conceded 6 4 6 to Ambati Rayudu to put CSK suddenly on course, the GT pacer pulled back exceptionally to dismiss Rayudu and then take out Dhoni on the first ball. Shami then bowled a fine penultimate over to leave Mohit to defend 13. He nearly pulled it off by executing his yorkers and bringing it down to 10 off 2, but Jadeja aced the one-v-one battle from there.

Mohit went full and Jadeja moved his front foot out of the way to slam a straight six and then flicked one away to fine leg to pull off the magnificent chase.

When Dhoni walked out, the stage was set for the ultimate narrative for the season to finish on. Crowds all over the country adored him throughout the season, supported him even in games where he played against their side. So as he walked out, the anticipation was on fever pitch. Incidentally, the man who eventually won it for CSK was the batter whose wicket even the CSK fans cheered all season because it meant Dhoni would walk out to bat. It got to stage where Jadeja himself was irked by but perhaps all's forgotten now from both ends as fifth title is celebrated for the men in yellow.

Rayudu cameo and the Dhoni anti-climax

What is this game? Rayudu in his last game of IPL goes 6 4 6 against Mohit Sharma to dwarf the target, but gets out next ball. Dhoni walks with 22 needed off 14 and the chance to pull off the perfect ending. But that's not to be as he hits one straight to cover for a first-ball duck. The supporters in yellow are stunned but this game is still within CSK's reach.

Dube keeps CSK alive

This game continues to see-saw. Mohit Sharma hit CSK with the wicket of Rahane but Dube has finished off Rashid's over with two successives sixes, leaving the four-time champions to chase 38 runs off the last 18 balls

Over of the match from Mohit Sharma!

Exceptional stuff from the veteran. Great change of pace to pile up the pressure of dots and singles to eventually lure Rahane into a false short. His cameo ends on 27 off 13 balls. Mohit gives away just six runs in the over and CSK now need 53 off the last 24 balls.

Rahane drags CSK ahead

Oh what hitting from the CSK batter. He's played some exquisite strokes on his way to a 11-ball 26, taking CSK to 112 for 2 in 10 overs. The four-time champions now need 59 off the last 30 balls.

What an over from Noor Ahmad!

He's sent the dangerous Devon Conway packing too! The left-hander was CSK's aggressor in the chase but he holed on this occasion, hitting one down to Mohit Sharma at long on. The ball gripped a bit and Conway was swallowed by it. CSK are down to 78-2 in 7 overs.

Most Runs in a Season for CSK

733 - Michael Hussey (2013) | 672 - Devon Conway (2023) | 635 - Ruturaj Gaikwad (2021) | 633 - Faf du Plessis (2021)

Noor Ahmed breaks through!

The left-armer was the only one to bowl a tight over in the PowerPlay and has now accounted for the wicket of Ruturaj Gaikwad. The CSK opener went for a big hit but didn't get under a full quick delivery. The ball flew off the top-edge and Noor's Afghanistan teammate Rashid Khan completed an easy take.

Are CSK on their way?

Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad fly

What a start this for CSK. They've smashed 21 from 2 Shami overs, taken apart Hardik Pandya in one over and haven't spared Rashid Khan either. It's taken them to 52/0 in 4 overs! Game on, surely.

Next inspection by the umpires to be carried out at 11.30 PM. The wait continues...

-Lot of animated discussions between Hardik Pandya, the umpires and match referee Javagal Srinath. We still await a decision...

-The delay now is due to the wet outfield. There's an inspection at 10.45 PM IST.

- Oh the visuals we've dreaded all day is here. It's raining! The players are off the field.

Sai Sudharsan was sensational in the last 15 balls he faced...

Take a bow, Sai Sudharshan

Incredible hitting at the death from the lanky left-hander. He was within touching distance of getting a hundred, until a Pathirana yorker trapped him leg before. He walks back for a scintillating 96 off 47 balls.

Sai Sudharsan tees off

He has Hardik Pandya at the other end but he's taken the mantle of scoring the runs here from Saha. He was a touch slow through the lull in the middle overs but he's picked up courtesy some poor bowling, first from Theekshana and then Pathirana. From 36 off 27, he's raced away to a fifty off 32. And he's not done.

Deepak Chahar gets a wicket, at last

He gets Saha to top-edge a pull and Dhoni takes a simple catch. GT are 131/2 in 14 overs. Are CSK about to drag this game back?

Another fifty for Saha and a 15-run over

Wriddhiman Saha is one of just two batters to have scored a century in the IPL. He's got a fifty today off 36 balls!

10 overs: GT 86/1

There has been a definite slow-down post the wicket of Gill. There is some assistance for the spinners and CSK are beginning to come into their own with that in play. Who'll get the move-on again for GT?

Jadeja strikes...

... but that should be a W for Dhoni. Typically quick and incredible glovework from the CSK captain and Gill has dragged his back leg out. The speed at which Dhoni operates, there's just no time for Gill to even consider getting back inside.

Shubman Gill's IPL 2023 ends with 890 runs

PowerPlay: Advantage Gujarat Titans

Dhoni tried to trap Gill with two deep fielders on the leg side to account for his urge to pull the ball square and in front of square but it didn't yield the result he wanted. The pace duo was taken apart and then came an over of Maheesh Theeksana, which too was treated severely. GT get 62/0.

Two-over massacre

Saha vs Chahar (3rd over): 6 0 4 4 2 0

Gill vs Deshpande (4th over): 4 4 4 1 1 0

Aand the GT openers are up and away! Through these two overs, the camera has constantly panned to Deepak Chahar. Tough being him right now, even with a poker-faced MS Dhoni behind the stumps.

Some swing for Chahar, some luck for Gill

Deepak Chahar kept the GT opener down to singles and Tushar Deshpande set him up with a fielder at short backward square leg. Gill flicked a full ball on the leg stump and Chahar put down an absolute sitters. That's a massive, massive drop. You don't offer chances to a batter who has three hundreds in his last four games. CSK will know that, Chahar will know that.

Shubman Gill, who will walk out to bat shortly, has incredible numbers at home:

Innings:12 |Runs:756 |Average: 84 |Strike Rate: 163.28 |50s/100s:3/3 |HS:129

But, worry not CSK fans... Deepak Chahar has dismissed him thrice in 47 balls in the IPL.

Line-ups:

GT:Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Shubman Gill, Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Mohit Sharma, Rashid Khan, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami

Subs:Joshua Little, KS Bharat, Odean Smith, Sai Kishore, Shivam Mavi

CSK:Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni, Deepak Chahar, Matheesha Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana

Subs:Shivam Dube, Mitchell Santner, Subranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Akash Singh

A gem from the toss:

Ravi Shastri:Now that you're batting, what do you make of this pitch?

Hardik Pandya:It's a FLAT track

TOSS: CSK win toss, opt to bowl.

A couple of big MSD numbers

- The first player to play 200 and 250 IPL matches is MS Dhoni.

- Player to feature in most IPL finals (11) - MS Dhoni

There's a non-Dhoni retirement happening after tonight's final...

Prelude - And then there were two! [Take two!]

Gujarat Titans. Chennai Super Kings. No. 2 or No. 5? That's the question tonight.

First things first, the weather forecast is much better today. It's bright and sunny now and there's very little chance of rain. A Monday evening IPL final sure feels odd, but it is what it is. We're sure you have lot of questions about what happens if the game is hit by rain again or if there's no play at all today, and we've got you covered

MS Dhoni started the season on a chariot and has been retained on a very high pedestal all season around the country. You start at Ahmedabad? It's all yellow. You go to Hyderabad? There's yellow. You play in Kolkata? Yes, yellow again. Just overwhelming widespread emotions have dictated the narrative this season. So the question (another one) is, will that emotion hit peak crescendo tonight?

Hardik Pandya will say 'definitely not'. He's shown that Gujarat Titans' success last season wasn't a one-off. If anything, they appeared stronger this time. If 2022 was about repeated middle-order bail outs, 2023 has been the year of Shubman Gill and some top-half batting brawn.

It's been an interesting path to the final for both these sides. CSK have been one of the best batting sides, maximising their resources to perfection - Ajinkya Rahane shone as the pace hitting, Shivam Dube excelled as the spin smasher, the openers put on 100s for fun and Dhoni, in his limited capacity, gave the crowd what they wanted.

Matheesha Pathirana has been the death-overs trump card and even Tushar Deshpande has picked wickets despite being expensive. GT meanwhile, have been the only side with their kind of dominance in a season which will go down as the most competitive. Every team bar SRH and DC have been in the race to make it to the playoffs till the very end.