Twitter Reactions: Clinical Gujarat Titans brush aside tame CSK comfortably to seal a spot in top two

Clinical Gujarat Titans (GT) thrashed the defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in a group stage encounter played at the iconic Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai on May 15 (Sunday). The Titans were a better side in all three departments of the game as they handed a defeat to the Yellow Army in their second last group stage match of the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2022.

CSK skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to have a bat first. The Kiwi opener Devon Conway failed yet again as he scored only five runs. However, opener Ruturaj Gaikwad (53 off 49 balls) and Moeen Ali (21 off 17 balls) steadied CSK’s innings before the latter was scalped by spinner Sai Kishore.

Gaikwad was then joined by N Jagadeesan (39* off 33 balls) to take the defending champions’ score past the 100-run mark. However, the opener was then scalped by star leg-spinner Rashid Khan. After the fall of Gaikwad, the Yellow Army could not do much in their innings as Shivam Dube (0 off 2 balls) and MS Dhoni (7 off 10 balls) failed miserably. Jagadeesan, who was at the crease for a decent amount of time by then, also could not give the flourish CSK required as they failed to score even a single boundary in the last five overs.

GT bowlers were very disciplined and gave nothing away to the CSK batters. Senior pacer Mohammed Shami was the pick of the bowlers as he scalped two crucial wickets and gave away just 19 runs in his four-over quota. Apart from Shami, Rashid (one wicket), Alzarri Joseph (one wicket) and Sai Kishore (one wicket) were the successful bowlers for the new entrants.

Saha gave a flying start to GT

Chasing 134 in their 20 overs, opener Wriddhiman Saha (67* off 57 balls) gave a flying start to the new entrants as GT crossed the 50-run mark during the field restrictions, and that too without losing any wicket. However, as soon as the field restrictions got over, opener Shubman Gill was scalped by debutant Matheesha Pathirana.

Saha was then joined by Australian batter Matthew Wade (20 off 15 balls) in the middle and they continued to score runs at a steady pace. However, spinner Moeen got the better of the Australian batter and things got interesting when Hardik Pandya got out to Pathirana. However, Saha and South African batter David Miller (15* off 20 balls) ensured that GT didn’t face any further hiccup in their chase as the new entrants beat the defending champions by a comfortable margin of seven wickets. For CSK, Pathirana (two wickets) and Moeen (one wicket) were the successful bowlers.

Here’s how Twitter reacted:

Another good win for @gujarat_titans! Top bowling as a unit and @Wriddhipops made sure the win was never out of reach! #GTvCSK #IPL2022

— Harbhajan Turbanator (@harbhajan_singh) May 15, 2022

Promising leg spinner #prashantsolanki @ChennaiIPL @IPL 😊🙌

— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3) May 15, 2022

Slowest Delivery of the match. Most dot balls bowled in the match. I would like these two awards to be added in the IPL. Spinners ko bhi awards jeetne ka mauka milna chahiye…and we should appreciate the importance of dot balls too. Thoughts? #SeriousSuggestion

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 15, 2022

Well done Saha 👏

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) May 15, 2022

Not a single boundary in the last five overs. Not a single boundary in the first few overs too.

— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 15, 2022

Matheesha Pathirana might have gone for a few runs after that wicket, but he can take heart from history. Another pace bowler, young and with an unorthodox action, began his IPL career with 1 for 12 in his first over, way back in 2013. His name was Jasprit Bumrah. #CSKvGT

— Saurabh Somani (@saurabh_42) May 15, 2022

Matheesha Pathirana gets his maiden IPL wicket in the first ball of his IPL career.

— Johns. (@CricCrazyJohns) May 15, 2022

Add to the memoirs of young one’s this #IPL2022 – Pathirana joins Dewald Brevis in the wicket of the first ball club. Both 19, both promising. The future should be fun .. #CSKvsGT

— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) May 15, 2022

Matheesha Pathirana is the first ever uncapped Sri Lankan cricketer to feature in an IPL match.

— Kausthub Gudipati (@kaustats) May 15, 2022

Everyone by their phones at the Brabourne to watch Pathirana bowl…..Big game here today #RRvsLSG

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) May 15, 2022