"Fortress for a reason" - Twitter reacts as Shivam Dube helps CSK hand GT their biggest IPL defeat

The 7th match of the Indian Premier League 2024 was the host of the battle between Ruturaj Gaikwad-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Shubman Gill-led Gujarat Titans (GT) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai on Tuesday, March 26.

Gujarat Titans won the toss and opted to bowl first in the match. They fielded an unchanged line-up while CSK made one change by bringing in Matheesha Pathirana for Maheesh Theekshana.

The decision to bowl first didn’t prove fruitful for the Shubman Gill & Co. as the CSK openers Rachin Ravindra and Ruturaj Gaikwad took the bowlers to the cleaners. Ravindra, especially, came out all guns blazing and smashed runs at a colossal strike rate. He played some of the class shots and put pressure on the GT bowlers.

As the Kiwi batter was looking unstoppable, Shubman Gill handed the ball to his premier bowler Rashid Khan and the latter managed to dismiss Ravindra as the home team finished the powerplay at 69/1.

Rachin Ravindra smashed 46 runs off 20 balls, including 6 fours and 3 sixes, and was involved in a stunning 62-run partnership with his skipper Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Following the dismissal of Ravindra, CSK’s innings slowed down a bit as Ruturaj Gaikwad and Ajinkya Rahane were not able to play aggressively. After 10 overs the score of the hosts was 104/1.

Gaikwad fell short of his half-century as he scored 46 runs off 36 balls while Rahane was back in the hut after registering a run-a-ball 12. Once the duo were back in the hut, Chennai Super Kings’ innings got back on track, thanks to Shivam Dube’s blitzkrieg.

The tall left-handed batter started off his innings with the six and carried out the same momentum throughout his innings. He finished his innings at the score of 51 runs off 23 balls and his knock was studded with 2 fours and 5 sixes. Daryl Mitchell chipped in with 20-ball 24, Ravindra Jadeja scored 7 and Sameer Rizvi in his debut innings smoked 14 runs off 6 balls to power CSK to a total of 206/6.

Chasing the target in the match, Gujarat Titans openers Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha added 28 runs, before the former was cleaned up by Deepak Chahar. Saha and Sai Sudharsan were not impressive with the bat either as they scored just 21 and 37 runs respectively.

Vijay Shankar, who was a revelation for GT in the last season, scored 12 runs off 12 balls while power-hitter David Miller slammed 21 runs off 16 balls. The lower-order batters of GT just couldn’t get going and they lost wickets at regular intervals.

In the end, the Shubman Gill & Co. were restricted to 143/8 in their 20 overs. For CSK, Deepak Chahar, Mustafizur Rahman, and Tushar Deshpande picked up two wickets each. Notably, CSK hammered GT by 63 runs and this was the biggest defeat of the Titans in IPL history as before today they never lost any match by 30-plus runs.

Here’s How Twitter Reacted To CSK vs GT, IPL 2024 Clash:

Total dominance from CSK even after losing the toss. Almost everyone chipped in with both bat and ball. And the catching was top notch. These guys look hungry. #CSKvGT #IPL2024 pic.twitter.com/cFEQYUEDvE

— Wasim Jaffer (@WasimJaffer14) March 26, 2024

CSK well and truly on its way up. Two back to back home wins, Playing so well at home makes them so so good. #CSKvGT

— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) March 26, 2024

Rutu ka Raj continues!

— Subhayan Chakraborty (@CricSubhayan) March 26, 2024

Anbuden tales -2️⃣be continued!💛#CSKvGT #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛

— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) March 26, 2024

Koi vaandho nathi 👉🏽 Aagad vadhata raho 💙#AavaDe | #TATAIPL2024 | #CSKvGT

— Gujarat Titans (@gujarat_titans) March 26, 2024

Fortress for a reason #Chepauk #CSKvGT

— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) March 26, 2024

Thala Dhoni smiling is fine, but I spotted Stephen Fleming smiling. That's a spot!

— Silly Point (@FarziCricketer) March 26, 2024

Big win margin boosts CSK’s Net Run Rate, messes up GT’s

— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) March 26, 2024

Clinical from @ChennaiIPL. So creditable to see how they have transformed themselves in the last 2-3 years into a free hitting, smart fielding team.

— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha) March 26, 2024

One of the impressive things about CSK is how their new players always seem to hit the ground running

All of Rachin Ravindra, Mustafizur Rahman, Daryl Mitchell & Sameer Rizvi have already made an impact#IPL2024 #CSKvGT

— Mohit Shah (@mohit_shah17) March 26, 2024

Rachin with his electrifying start
Rutu's solid showing with the bat & on field
Rizvi's cameo on debut
Dube hitting sixes for fun
Daz Mitchell's all round contribution
Jadeja keeping two overs tight
Chahar: 4-0-28-2
Tushar: 4-0-21-1
Fizz: 4-0-30-2
Pathirana: 4-0-29-1
Rahane being… pic.twitter.com/Z4UsA1GmNZ

— Srini Mama (@SriniMaama16) March 26, 2024

csk seems scary this year😰 bhai NO

— tanishqa (@tanishqaaa_) March 26, 2024

Well played #CSK . Love you ❤️💥#Yellove #CSKvsGT

— WarLord (@Mr_Ashthetics) March 26, 2024

A special appreciation post for Captain Ruturaj Gaikwad.

Won against Gujarat Titans at Chepauk with only 2 overs of spin. Bold moves throughout the match be it giving over to Daryl, backing Tushar Deshpande. Everything he touched turned gold. pic.twitter.com/PNHkAi2gHG

— Yash (@CSKYash_) March 26, 2024

When Home team has won all matches so far and your next match is in Hyderabad pic.twitter.com/0XyL8yyuYZ

— Sagar (@sagarcasm) March 26, 2024