IPL 2022: Match 62, CSK vs GT – Full List of Award Winners, Player of the Match, Who Said What

The Gujarat Titans registered a seven-wicket win over the Chennai Super Kings in Match 62 of IPL 2022 at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 15. Even though this was an inconsequential clash, the victory has boosted Gujarat’s morale ahead of the playoff as they have now won their 10th game of the season.

Chennai skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. After Devon Conway was dismissed cheaply, his opening partner Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali were then involved in a 57-run stand for the second wicket. Gaikwad was the sole half-centurion for Chennai as he scored 53 runs from 49 deliveries and an unbeaten 33-ball 39 from Narayan Jagadeesan took them to 133/5. Mohammed Shami finished with figures of 2/19 while Rashid Khan, Alzarri Joseph, and Sai Kishore chipped in with a scalp each.

GT get the job done in the last over

In reply, Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill made a statement with a 59-run opening stand and while the other batters including Gill played supporting roles, it was Saha who took the onus of doing the bulk of scoring as he notched up a fantastic half-century. The veteran wicketkeeper-batter scored 67 runs from 57 deliveries at a strike rate of 117.5 including eight fours and a six as the Titans got past the finish line in the final over. For CSK, Maheesh Pathirana was the pick of the bowlers with figures of 2/24 while Moeen Ali took 1/11.

Losing skipper, MS Dhoni said:

To start off, batting first wasn’t a really good idea. The fast bowlers their ball wasn’t coming on. That’s why the batsmen found it tough to hit. The second half it got slightly better. Spinners I felt both halves it was pretty even. Bit more runs in the middle overs would have been good. Sai bowled really well. We could have pushed Shivam up the order but that defeats the purpose of giving Jaggi the extra game. We wanted Jaggi to spend some time in the middle.

I think Pathirana is an excellent death bowler. A bit similar to Malinga. With his action, the margin of error for him is quite big. With a slingy action, he doesn’t get a lot of bounce. He has got that slower one as well. We will try to give guys ample time in the middle. I feel it’s important to give guys who haven’t got a chance to feature in the 11.

Winning skipper, Hardik Pandya said:

We kind of won comfortably having seven wickets in hand and you don’t get extra points for finishing the game in the 15th or 16th over. So for us as a team we like to finish the game no matter when we finish. (Asked to assess his own captaincy) You put me on a spot. Yes, I would say I did pretty alright because having played in a previous franchise where a lot of responsibility was given to us as well and the kind of cricketer I am, I have always enjoyed responsibility where it kind of gives me ownership of things where I can control.

And I feel where I have batted throughout my career has given me a lot of idea about how the game is going, which kind of bowler will be important in certain situations. Playing for a different franchise and doing what I have done in the past has helped me in my captaincy. Ashish Nehra and me are very similar in terms of mindsets. Our game sense… the best thing is without saying I kind of connect with him.

Today it was hot so I wanted to take a breather as well (smiles), have some water, have some protein in the body and go back again. We will see if any players need a game off to be fresh for the playoffs, otherwise for us it is important to keep the momentum. Obviously we want to give opportunities to new players, but we also want to ensure the core group playing throughout the season is intact and getting the match practice they require before the playoffs. Yes we might change here and there, fast bowlers if needed, but otherwise we will be similar.

Player of the Match, Wriddhiman Saha said:

I’ve been playing for 15 years now, but this setup with Ashish bhai (Nehra) and everyone else is really good. Initially I didn’t get chances, but I kept working in practice and when I got my chance, I looked to deliver on my strengths. Today, we were chasing just 133-134 runs, so my strength has been to play in the powerplay, take a few chances. After that, we needed just about a run a ball, so we didn’t need to take chances. I just waited for the bad balls to score my boundaries.

The pitch was a bit slow. The odd ball was turning, so initially I wanted to take my chances against the pacers and after that it was just about rotating strike and building a partnership. I see myself as an aggressive player in the powerplay. My strength has been playing the sweep and stepping out and hitting, so that’s what I’ve been doing. The team doesn’t put pressure on any individual here, so we all play freely.

Full list of award winners from CSK vs GT match:

Super Striker of the match – Matthew Wade

Game Changer of the match – Wriddhiman Saha

Most Sixes – Moeen Ali

Power Player of the match – Wriddhiman Saha

Most Valuable asset of the match – Wriddhiman Saha

Fastest Delivery of the match – Alzarri Joseph

Most Fours –  Wriddhiman Saha