CSK vs GT, 7th Match at Chennai, IPL, Mar 26 2024 - Match Result

That concludes the presentation and good time for us to also say goodbye. Not quite the thriller tonight like the IPL 2023 final with CSK hammering Titans in a big win. Tomorrow we will see you for Sunrisers Hyderabad vs Mumbai Indians. Till then, adios!

11.41pm TIme for the presentation. Couple of sponsor awards to be distributed before we chat with the winning captain Ruturaj Gaikwad, who has now made it 2-0 as an IPL captain. Here he is: "(second win in a row, thrilling?) Today's game was near to perfect game, in the sense of batting-bowling-fielding, all three departments. Against a team like Gujarat, we had to produce this kind of performance. (100+ runs in first ten overs) In Chennai when you are not sure how the wicket will be, you must bat well irrespective of when you're batting. Having wickets in the last ten really helps here. Personally, thought Rachin batted and put us against in the game. Jinx and Shivam played good roles. Not to forget our youngster Rizvi as well. (Assessment of Dube) Just confidence. When he came here the management worked with him personally, Mahi bhai worked with him personally. He knows what role he is playing and which bowler to take on. A big plus for us. (Fielding today) I think pretty much same, I am impressed as well. Maybe we have got 1-2 extra youngsters in the team. Great effort from Jinx even in the last game and this game."

Up next Shivam Dube, the Player of the Match: (Three franchises, finally blossoming here?) This franchise is something different from all others. They are giving me the freedom. They want me to do better and I also want to win some matches. (Whacking short balls) I have worked in that way. It is helping me. I know they will bowl me some short balls and I'm ready for that. (Role - flexible?) They want me to do the same thing I did today. They want me to score with a higher strike-rate and that is what I'm doing."

CSK zoom right up to No. 1 on the IPL 2024 points table.

Deepak Chahar, from the winning side: (Three powerplay overs for him) Generally when I play, I bowl three powerplay overs. It is a difficult task but its the role team has given and I try to do it. (Two bouncers per over) Obviously it helps. If you previously bowled a bouncer early, then the batter is ready for the full ball. But now the batter has to stay on his toes and has to expect the second bouncer. (More bounce on this pitch?) There is always bounce but it is usually slower. We didn't see much dew either. (Chatting with Gaikwad instead of MS these days) Now I see both sides now [laughs], I get confused where to see. Ruturaj is leading well."

11.26pm So CSK's contingent of Mumbai and Maharashtra players seal the deal against the Titans who themselves had many Tamil Nadu boys in their team. Dube with that blazing half-century, Deshpande with 2-21 in four overs, Rahane with some stunning catches and Gaikwad with some runs and his job as captain.

Jokes aside, don't forget the contribution from Mustafizur Rahman and Deepak Chahar as well, who shared four wickets between them. Ravindra's 46 runs were also crucial, as were their lower-order cameos.

Tough outing for the Titans tonight after Gill fell early. They never really seemed to be in the hunt in the second innings. Here's the losing captain Shubman Gill: "They outplayed us when they were batting and when they bowled their execution was spot on. We backed ourselves to get a good powerplay score but once we couldn't we were always playing catch up. (Bowling effort reflections) In T20 you can always talk about 10-15 runs here and there but eventually it is about how much they got. We were expecting to chase anything between 190 to 200 but we can talk about how we could've stopped a few more boundaries. Rather have games like these at the start of the tournament. (This wicket) Going into the match chasing, we always expected to chase 190-200 because it was a good wicket with grass covering. We let ourselves down while batting. (Role as leader of GT) Lots of new ... experiencing lot of different things. We had two finals in the past two years...exciting times."

M RAGUPATHY : "POTM should be given Rachin Ravindra for his batting as well had wonderful 3 catches !"

Last six balls.

Jayan Pari: "PotM Chahar or Dube? I'd go for Chahar over Dube." -- Deshpande in contention too I suspect

Mukund: "How did GT get a third review, they had exhausted their reviews on 15.5." -- it appears CSK reviewed that wide call and successfully changed it to non-wide. GT were not involved in the review on that delivery. We have updated the commentary.

Akshay: "I hope the dent in NRR doesn't haunt GT in the back end of the tournament..

Looks like Titans are playing for NRR here.