IPL 2022: Saha leads the way, relentless Titans beat CSK by 7 wickets

The wicket-keeper was unbeaten on 67 as he guided the chase of table-toppers Gujarat Titans, who had already sealed a playoff spot, after restricting CSK to 133 at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

If one thought that Gujarat Titans will take their foot off the pedal having sealed a playoff spot in their previous match, it didn’t prove to be the case. On the contrary, Titans produced another perfect bowling display on way to a seven-wicket victory over Chennai Super Kings at the Wankhede Stadium on Sunday.

Wriddhiman Saha and David Miller of Gujarat Titans(PTI)

They restricted CSK to 133/5 before chasing down the target with five balls to spare. Wriddhiman Saha (67*--57b, 8x4, 1x6) carried his bat to make sure Titans didn’t suffer any hiccups chasing a low total. It was Saha’s third half-century of the 2022 edition.

On the way, he shared useful partnerships which made sure Titans will finish among the top two in the standings. The 43-ball 59-run opening stand with Shubman Gill (18—17b) set the platform for Titans and settled the early nerves, if any.

While the scoring slowed after the powerplay, Titans always looked in control of the chase. Saha’s second-wicket partnership of 31 with Matthew Wade (20, 15b) and an unbeaten stand of 37 for the fourth with David Miller (15*, 20b) took Titans over the line.

Titans had bowled tightly throughout and applied the squeeze on CSK in the last five overs where they conceded just 24 runs and didn’t allow a single boundary, CSK having reached 109/2 after 15 overs.

It was the third time that they restricted an opposition to below 30 runs in the last five overs while bowling first. Previously, they had stopped Rajasthan Royals for 25 and Punjab Kings for 28.

It all started with Mohammed Shami (2/19) at the top, whose angled delivery from around the wicket moved away slightly, forcing Devon Conway (5, 9b) to edge it. That was followed by two promising partnerships for CSK which Titans were successful in nipping before they could dominate. First was a 57-run stand for the second wicket between Ruturaj Gaikwad (53--49b, 4x4, 1x6) and Moeen Ali (21, 17b) and then a 48-run third-wicket stand between Gaikwad and N Jagadeesan (39, 33b).

Just as Ali was trying to open up, he holed out to deep-midwicket off Sai Kishore (1/31). Following that there was another period of re-building the innings for CSK during which Gaikwad and Jagadeesan tried to break the shackles, but never managed to.

Left-arm spinner Sai Kishore, left-arm seamer Yash Dayal (0/27), Shami and Alzarri Joseph (1/15) were on the ball during the middle overs. Gaikwad, after reaching his half-century, tried to up the scoring but could only find Matthew Wade at deep midwicket as he tried to take on Rashid Khan. A few balls later, Shivam Dube (0) edged a Joseph short delivery to Saha. Even CSK skipper MS Dhoni (7, 10b) found it difficult to pull off those big shots in the death overs.

Credit must be given to Hardik Pandya for how the managed his bowlers and field placements. His chats with Joseph and Shami and the subsequent field placements resulted in the wickets of Dube and Dhoni. While Pandya encourage Joseph to bowl a short one to Dube, he had moved Dayal to mid-wicket only a couple of balls before Dhoni hit a Shami short ball down his throat.