Gujarat Titans vs Chennai Super Kings: What a 180-degree turn! What an adventure! Miller, take a bow! Rashid Khan, take a bow! After early punches, they had lost control of the game. The resignation of Rahul Tewatia put them even further behind. David Miller, on the other hand, refused to give up. The South African rose to the situation and proved that his moniker of Killer Miller was well-deserved. His innings of 94 not out off 51 balls, with eight fours and six sixes, took the game from under Chennai’s nose.
With Gujarat Titans on 87 for 5, Rashid Khan walked out to bat, and the impact of their normal skipper Hardik Pandya was sorely missed. Dwayne Bravo had just put an end to Miller’s thoughts, while Rahul Tewatia had just extended the pursuit by eliminating the latter.
Miller had 52 off 29 balls out of the 87 at the time, having already pounded Jadeja in a 19-run over. GT got off to a better start thanks to their brief, fierce stand, but they still needed a batter to give ample assistance for Miller if he was to pull off the unthinkable.
On his captaincy debut, Rashid couldn’t have imagined playing with the bat, but he came out and did exactly what Miller asked of him, and maybe a little more. Miller maintained his intensity even after Tewatia’s departure, picking two fours off Chris Jordan in the 14th over.
When he carried a wide yorker from Bravo for a big six to head into the strategic timeout with GT on 108 for 5 in 15 overs and still needing 62 to win, he may have made CSK a little queasy.
The game was set up for CSK to go back on track with a wicket, but it didn’t happen. Even with Maheesh Theekshana’s reintroduction.
Miller was offered a long hop by the mystery spinner, which he deposited over a deep backward square leg in a 10-run over.
Under duress, Bravo bowled an outstanding over in the death over, picking up only four singles from Rashid and Miller. 48 off 18 felt like a stretch, but Rashid stepped front stage all of a sudden.
The over of Chris Jordan goes 25 runs
The GT captain made amends for the previous over’s squandered momentum by ripping into Jordan, who had missed his yorkers.
Rashid has proven to be a good batter in numerous competitions throughout the world, as he used his quick wristwork to deliver two monster sixes down the leg side. Jordan insisted on delivering a yorker, so he fired a full toss to Rashid, who lofted it over cover for a four.
In another superb exhibition of strong bottom hand, Rashid picked his third six of the 25-run innings over a deflated CSK. Bravo, though, tried to preserve his team’s game by dismissing Rashid for a 21-ball 40 and removed Alzarri Joseph with the first ball of the last over, leaving CSK requiring 13 from the final over.
Rashid on the roar
Rashid Khan debuted his batsman persona with a 21-ball 40-run knock. His performance included a game-changing 24-run thumping of Chris Jordan. Miller was caught in the third man with 13 required off the last over, but it turned out to be a no-ball.
As Gujarat Titans chased the mark with a ball to spare, Miller stayed unbeaten on 94. To get rid of Rashid, Bravo revived CSK with a slower version. At 13 off seven, Joseph received a free hit to try for a boundary, but he ended up hitting long-off. At the start of the final over, Miller was still on strike.
Chennai will be in a state of shock. They executed most of the things correctly on the field, but they lost the plot in the end. Similarly, something similar happened during their batting innings.
They squandered a solid position for a huge score in the last six overs, managing only 45 runs. All of these variables played a part.
Despite a strong start with the ball, Chennai should have won this game, but they were on the wrong side of David Miller.
Source: Hindustan Times
