The Chennai Super Kings were crowned Indian Premier League champions for a record-equalling fifth time after Ravindra Jadeja’s heroics off the last two ball to guide them to victory over defending champions the Gujarat Titans in Ahmedabad.
Chennai chased down their revised target of 171 in 15 overs with five wickets to spare in a rain-affected IPL final played in Ahmedabad on a reserve day after Sunday’s washout.
New Zealand’s Devon Conway led the chase with a score of 47 off 25 balls, but cameos from Ajinkya Rahane (27) and Shivam Dube (unbeaten 32) paved the way for Jadeja’s heroics.
Mohit Sharma bowled four good balls before Jadeja scored the winning runs to spark wild celebrations at the largest cricket stadium in the world.
Chennai won the championship for the fifth time to tie Mumbai Indians.
The match is likely to be Dhoni’s last of his illustrious career, as the 41-year-old continued to draw huge crowds across venues this season and over 80,000 fans cheered the veteran, who stated he will decide his future later this year, in the final.
In his 10th appearance as Chennai captain in the final, Dhoni had the last laugh despite being dismissed for a duck off the first ball of his 250th IPL match.
Four wicketless balls into Chennai’s innings, players were forced to leave the pitch due to inclement weather.
The downpour lasted approximately 15 minutes, but one of the fields lost its cover and became wet, requiring the grounds crew to spend over two hours preparing the field for play.
Sai Sudharsan smashed 96 off 47 balls to lead Gujarat to a score of 214-4. Gujarat won the T20 competition in its inaugural season last year and topped the table in this edition.
In-form Gujarat opener Shubman Gill scored 39 runs off 20 balls.
Deepak Chahar dropped an easy catch off fast bowler Tushar Deshpande with Gill batting on three after he had just scored his third century of the season in the previous playoff. Gill, who leads the batting rankings with 890 runs, was batting on three after having just scored his third century of the season in the previous playoff.
The opener smashed Deshpande for three consecutive boundaries in the next over and continued his assault with consistent hits to the boundary until Dhoni’s lightning quick glovework stumped the batsman off Jadeja.
Fellow opener Wriddhiman Saha scored 54 runs, and he and Sudharsan put together 64 runs before the latter’s departure.
