Miller slams 94 as Titans defeat CSK
CHANDIGARH: On Sunday, stand-in captain Rashid Khan made sure that Gujarat Titans did not miss Hardik Pandya on the field against Chennai Super Kings. Set 170 for victory by the defending champions, David Miller scored an unbeaten 94 off 51 balls to seal Gujarat Titans’ three-wicket win over CSK.
Had it not been Khan’s 21-ball 40, Miller’s effort alone could not have done it for GT. The duo added 70 runs in the death overs to take Titans close to the target. A Chris Jordan over that fetched 25 runs in the final phase tilted the game in Titans’ favour. With Rashid gone and needing 13 runs off the last over, Miller took over, scoring the required runs. Miller smashed six sixes making sure Titans were always in the hunt. He also hit eight fours.
There was some drama in the end as Miller, with Titans needing two runs off the last ball, hit Chris Jordon down the ground and took off for a tight second run. Lockie Ferguson put in a dive at the non-striker’s end as the stumps were whipped off but he had made the ground, allowing Titans to celebrate. The IPL newcomers are atop the table with five wins in six games. It was CSK’S fifth loss in six games, which leaves them ninth and only ahead of winless Mumbai Indians.
Riding on Ruturaj Gaikwad’s blistering 48-ball 73 and Ambati Rayudu’s 31-ball 46, CSK scored 169/5 batting first. Skipper Ravindra Jadeja, who has looked off-colour this season, chipped in with a 12-ball cameo of 22 runs to propel his team to what he thought was a challenging total.
Gaikwad and Rayudu added 92 runs after Moeen Ali (1) and Robin Uthappa (3) got out early in the innings. Gaikwad, who had ordinary outings coming into the match, played with authority and hit five fours and five sixes in his innings, laying the foundation for a big total. Taking a cue from Gaikwad, Rayudu too joined the party and went after the Gujarat Titans bowlers. He hit four fours and two sixes, which took the team past the 160-run mark.
Gujarat Titans, who have been in red-hot form, continued to shine and made their presence felt in the match.
After Shubman Gill and Vijay Shankar fell without scoring, the pressure came on the others. In their bid to score runs briskly, Wriddhiman Saha (11) and Abhinav Manohar (12) threw their wickets. It was Miller who showed resilience batting for Titans after the team was reeling at 85/5 in 12.4 overs. That’s when Rashid came along and helped change the game. When he got out, then Miller was left to show his T20 batting skills. Chris Jordan leaked 58 runs off 3.5 overs, without taking a wicket. However, Dwayne Bravo bowled well, taking three wickets giving away 23 runs.
Speaking after the game, CSK skipper Jadeja said, “We started brilliantly. First six overs were good as a bowling unit, but credit goes to Miller, who played some good cricket shots. When we were batting, the wicket was gripping and the ball was holding so we thought 169 was a par score. But we didn’t execute our plans in the last five. (20th over) I think Jordan is experienced, so I thought let me go with him, he can bowl 4-5 yorkers. Unfortunately it did not happen, that’s the beauty of T20s.”
Brief scores: CSK 169/5 ( R Gaikwad 73, A Rayudu 46; A Joseph 2/34); GT 170/7 in 19.5 overs (D Miller 94*, R Khan 40; M Theekshana 2/24, D Bravo 3/23). GT won by 3 wickets.