Ahmedabad, May 25 (IANS) Fifties by Dewald Brevis (57) and Devon Conway (52), coupled with quick-fire innings by young guns Ayush Mhatre (34) and Urvish Patel (37) saw Chennai Super Kings (CSK) post a massive 230/5 in 20 overs against Gujarat Titans in Match 67 of Indian Premier League (IPL) 2025 at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday..
It may have taken them the entire season but the CSK batters finally found their groove on a hot sunny day in Ahmedabad as their young trio of Mhatre, Patel, and Brevis, all of whom were signed as mid-season replacements, showed plenty of promise, in a season in which CSK has not had much to cheer for.
After an economical first over by Mohammed Siraj, Mhatre took Arshad Khan to the cleaners with three sixes, split by two boundaries, for a 28-run second over.
Conway got off the mark in style by finding two more boundaries off the next over before Shubman Gill introduced his most successful bowler of the tournament, Prasidh Krishna, and he delivered with the important scalp of Mhatre. A slow-fullish delivery saw the 17-year-old try and get under it, but he mistimed it straight to Siraj at mid-off to end his 17-ball blitz.
It seemed as CSK’s young batting core was told to go and hit from the offset, with Conway carefully building his innings from the other end.
Patel started his innings strongly with a six off Siraj before Conway struck Prasidh for consecutive boundaries to tie CSK’s highest power-play score for the season with 68/1 in the six overs.
With the pacers being belted for boundaries, Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan were introduced to counterattack. It was the former who finally got Patel after he was dropped off the bowling of Rashid in the previous over. After being hit for a six on the first ball of the 10th over, Patel sliced the ball to Gill at extra cover.
Shivam Dube (17) did not take too long to get going and smashed Kishore for a six, straight down the ground, to get off the mark.
With Conway getting closer to his fifty, Shahrukh Khan dismissed Dube to claim his first wicket in the tournament. A full-length ball, angled towards the batter’s pads, saw Gerald Coetzee take a simple catch.
The Kiwi batter reached his 11th tournament half-century with a six off Rashid, in 34 deliveries, in an innings laced with six boundaries and two maximums, before being bowled over on the next delivery.
Brevis has been the spark that has reignited this CSK batting lineup, and he continued to bring more of the same. While Ravindra Jadeja (21) rotated the strike, with occasional boundaries, Brevis continued his innovative batting style and helped CSK race towards the high total.
A maximum off Rashid, a six and four off Coetzee, followed by a reverse sweep boundary off Arshad, saw CSK reach the 200-run mark with two overs to spare.
From there on, the Proteas batter switched gears and smashed Siraj for consecutive sixes before finding the boundary at backwar- point, which saw Brevis score his second half-century of the season in 19 deliveries.
Prasidh Krishna continued his economical bowling in the final over, barring one six, and went for nine runs before a short ball, on the final delivery of the innings, saw Brevis edge it straight to Jos Buttler, who made no mistake in completing the catch.
Gujarat Titans need to chase 231 in the second innings, a win for the hosts will seal the top spot in the points table but a loss would see their fate lay in the hands of the other three teams competing for a spot in Qualifier 1.
Brief scores:
Chennai Super Kings 230/5 in 20 overs (Dewald Brevis 57, Devon Conway 52, Urvish Patel 37; Prasidh Krishna 2-22, Rashid Khan 1-42) vs Gujarat Titans
–IANS
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