Picture : BCCI
In front of the packed crowd Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad the Tata IPL 2023 began on a promising note after a glittering opening ceremony .
The defending Champions Gujarat Titans began their title defence in style with a five -wicket win over Chennai Super Kings.
This after GT skipper Hardik Pandya won the toss and decided to bowl first . CSK lost Kiwi Devon Conway early for 1. Moeen Ali scored 23 . Others like Ben Stokes ( 7), Ravindra Jadeja ( 1) , Ambati Rayudu ( 12 ) Shivam Dube ( 19) failed to carry on. Had Ruturaj Gaikwad not played a sensational powered packed innings to delight of the hue crowd 92 ( 50 balls, 4 fours, 9 sixes) CSK would not have reached the total they had reached 178/7 in their 20 overs .Even the legend Mahendra Singh Dhoni , with crowds cheering him on came in late down the batting order and could not do much remaining unbeaten on 14. One six of his though thrilled the crowd.
GST bowlers did well to peg CSK back with regular wickets . Rashid Khan 2/ 26 ( 4 overs) , Alzarri Joseph 2/33 ( 4 overs) Mohammed Shami 2/ 29 ( 4 overs), Joshua Little 1/ 41 ( 4 overs), Yash Dayal 0/14 ( 1 over)
In reply , Gujarat Titans , Wriddhiman Saha made his intent clear with a quick 16 ball 25 . Shubman Gill was in superb touch from the word go with his placement and timing . Gill was sublime in his fine 63 off 36 balls with six fours and three maximums. Sai Sudharsan scored a vital ( 22). GT skipper Hardik Pandya fell for ( 8), Vijay Shankar scored 27 . Rahul Tewatia not out 15 and Rashid Khan not out 10 saw GT home by reaching 182/5 in 19.2 overs.
For CSK the bowling figures read : Deepak Chahar 0/ 29 ( 4 overs), Tushar Deshpande was expensive 1/51 ( 3.2 overs), youngster Rajvardhan Hangargekar impressed 3/36 ( 4 overs) , Mitchell Santner 0/32 ( 4 overs) , Ravindra Jadeja 1/ 28 ( 4 overs)
The tournament saw new rules coming into effect with the impact player
CSK Impact Player: Tushar Deshpande replaces Ambati Rayudu
GT Impact Player: Sai Sudharsan replaces Kane Williamson
Match: IPL 2023, 1st Match
Venue: Ahmedabad | Date: March 31, 2023
