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Chennai Super Kings (CSK) scored 178/7 in the first innings of the curtain raiser of IPL 2023 against Gujarat Titans (GT) on Friday, March 31, at the Narendra Modi Stadium in Ahmedabad.
GT captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and opted to field first on a decent batting track. Mohammed Shami gave the Titans a great start by cleaning up Devon Conway (1) in the third over. Ruturaj Gaikwad and Moeen Ali (23) overcame the early breakthrough with their counterattack.
The duo smashed boundaries at will as CSK raced away to 50 in 5.5 overs before Rashid Khan dismissed Moeen Ali. His fellow English teammate Ben Stokes walked in next in his debut match for CSK. It was a forgettable maiden outing in yellow for Stokes, as he could only score seven runs off six balls. Rashid Khan sent him back in a similar manner to Ali.
Ruturaj Gaikwad (92 off 50 balls) continued his big hits at the other end and kept the run rate high. He looked in great touch as he smashed nine sixes and four boundaries during his blazing knock. A high full-toss from Alzarri Joseph ended his stay at the crease in the 18th over as he fell eight runs short of a well-deserved century.
Ambati Rayudu (12), Shivam Dube (19), and Ravindra Jadeja (1) also failed to make an impact for the Super Kings in the middle order. They could not maximize the score after Ruturaj set up a great platform with a sensational knock. MS Dhoni's timely cameo (14* off 7 balls) pushed the total close to 180 in the end.
Speaking during the mid-innings break, Chennai all-rounder Moeen Ali said:
"It is a score which is great to have. Disappointed, we should have scored 15-20 more. (On the pitch) Ruturaj was outstanding and he made the wicket look amazingly good. It was a decent pitch, once you take the first 5-6 balls. Chennai's support has always been incredible and when I was batting, the noise was perhaps the loudest I have ever heard."
Fans react after Ruturaj Gaikwad helps CSK reach 178/7
Fans on social media enjoyed the first innings of the IPL 2023 match between GT and CSK. They expressed their reactions in the form of some hilarious memes.
Here is a collection of the best memes:
