IPL Pulse - Gill rattles CSK (again)

Good morning,

Erm, no such pleasantries for Chennai Super Kings fans, sadly. A topsy-turvy campaign has finally ended. Gujarat Titans, meanwhile, are promised a top-two finish. The race has now whittled down to four teams and one slot.

Missed the action last night? We've got you covered with Cricketlineguruji Pulse, your quick browse of the IPL verse.

Last night in five lines

Gill headlines rollicking start

Sudharsan picks up late but goes big

Buttler tees off as CSK attack crumbles

Siraj scythes through top-order, leaving CSK hobbling

Dube shimmers briefly, but Rabada, Rashid close off game

Oh, that happened

Whatever tiny hopes CSK had have been crushed. This made them the third team officially eliminated, and made it a toss-up between PBKS, KKR and RR, with DC holding a feeble, outside chance. GT are confirmed in the top two, which means they play Qualifier 1 in Dharamsala after a good five-day break.

Pulse Awards

Sai Sudharsan gets the secure partner award for never once feeling intimidated or flustered at Shubman Gill's superior scoring rate, happily playing second fiddle. At eight overs, Gill had raced past his fifty, while Sudharsan was on 24 (22). But he caught up brilliantly.

CSK bag the fluffed-their-lines award for spraying the ball around, giving GT enough freebies to feast on. They sent down 13 wides, with left-arm quicks Spencer Johnson and Gurjapneet Singh sharing ten.

Noor Ahmad gets the lost-without-his-buddy award for continuing the trend of faring poorly whenever fellow spinner Akeal Hosein is not playing. First ball, Gill crunched him for an exquisitely timed six to set the tone. Later, Buttler launched into him in a 22-run over.

Urvil Patel gets the two-shifts-one-salary award for keeping for nearly the entire 20 overs as an emergency fill-in for the injured Samson. Imagine having to see the backs of Gill, Sudharsan and Buttler in your debut keeping stint in the IPL. To make it worse, he fell for a two-ball duck.

The rubbing-salt-into-wounds award goes to the IPL governing council for imposing a fine on the outgoing CSK team for maintaining a slow over rate last night.

Talking point

Gill put on a near-faultless show in the Powerplay, and it perfectly encapsulated how much his game has grown. He repeatedly made room and carved quicks over the off-side, jumping down the track fearlessly and making his own space. Here's more on the fresh intent behind his rich Powerplay dividends.

Chatter

Rabada's all ready for the little pre-Playoffs break: "We've got a while now, so I guess feet up, get stuck in your hotel room, watch some series, and then hit the ground running closer to the game"

CSK aren't letting Dhoni go yet. "He'll make the decision in the best interest of the team and not for himself as an individual. But it will be great to have him playing," said Eric Simons about 2027.

Gaikwad said they missed Dhoni a lot this time: "He's someone who can, have a fear in the opposition, especially coming in those late overs. Can really change the game, can really change the momentum just by staying at the crease".

Siraj, on how he got back into form: "In the first three or four matches, I was missing that match rhythm. Then I realised what I had been doing wrong, watched my videos again, and that confidence came back".

Stat snack

89 runs: The biggest victory margin for GT in the IPL, and the biggest defeat for CSK in their IPL history.

Gossip

Shubman Gill is not backing away from his newfound off-field game (and it's raking in numbers on his social media). What began as a harmless post-match post has now become a trend. A charged-up Gill shushed his own crowd after his wonder-catch last night, but it was meant more for the CSK fans who turned in huge numbers to outnumber the home support. Hours later, he repeated the pose on Instagram, just like he did with the whistle earlier. It's all adding to his online brand presence, breaking away from the small-town boy mould.

Tonight's watchlist

It isn't exactly a dead rubber: Sunrisers Hyderabad host Royal Challengers Bengaluru, with both teams eyeing the remaining top-two spot. Trust it to be a high-stakes game, with the crucial subplot of RCB's quicks versus SRH's ever-enterprising top-order.

Reckless prediction for tonight

No run-fest, this will be a low-scoring thriller, with Kohli, the bowler, winning it for RCB in the Super Over (!)