| Indian Premier League Final, Ahmedabad; |
| Gujarat Titans 214-4 (20 over): Sudharsan 96 (47), Saha 54 (39), Jill 39 (20) |
| Chennai Super Kings 171-5 (15 overs): Conway 47 (25), Mohit 3-36, Noor 2-17 |
| Chennai Super Kings win by five wickets on Duckworth-Lewis method |
| scorecard |
Chennai Super Kings hit 10 from their last two balls to defeat Gujarat Titans by five wickets and win the Indian Premier League for the fifth time.
Sai Sudharsan’s 96 helped put the Titans in a commanding position as they finished their innings at 214-4.
A rain delay dropped the Super Kings innings to 15 overs and set a target of 171.
And Ravindra Jadeja hit the deciding runs, six and four final balls, to settle a thrilling encounter.
“I was trying to swing hard because every ball counted,” Jadeja said of the dramatic finish.
“I knew anything could happen, so I was trying to swing hard and hit it straight.”
There was a lot of talk beforehand that the match would be the last in the career of 41-year-old Chennai MS Dhoni captain.
He entered the fray late in his team’s innings, but was bowled off the first ball, which briefly led to a stunned silence, before Chennai rallied to seal victory in dramatic fashion.
After that, Donnie hinted that he might be tempted to play for another season.
He said: “This is the best time to announce my retirement, but the amount of love I have received is all around.
“The easy thing is to get away from here, but the hardest thing is to work hard for nine months and try to play another IPL.
“You will be a gift from me, [but] It will not be easy on the body. I got emotional, the first match in CSK everyone was chanting my name. My eyes were watery, and I needed to take some time in the bunker.”
The final was originally scheduled to be held on Sunday, but heavy rains in Ahmedabad led the organizers to move it to a reserve day.
An impressive display by 21-year-old Sudarsan, who made 96 runs off 47 balls and 6 sixes, put the Titans in a strong position to defend the title they won for the first time last year.
Openers Wriddhiman Saha (54) and Shubman Gill (39) also took 2-44 for Chennai.
The Super Kings had to wait nearly three hours to start chasing the run, and by the time they finally got out to bat, it was well after midnight local time.
But the 75,000 who waited patiently inside the stadium were treated to a brave display of cricket.
Devon Conway made 47, and Shivam Dubey made an unbeaten 32 as Chennai bowled out as Mohit Sharma made it 3-36.
Jadeja pulled off a solid victory under the Duckworth-Lewis method by hitting Sharma’s last two balls to the deciding boundary.
