Gill, who has been in top form for the past three months, played some jaw-dropping strokes in his 63 off 36 balls to set up a fine win for the home team. Titans won in 19.2 overs.
Wriddhiman Saha, Gill’s opening partner, showed he still has it as he smashed a couple of sixes and as many fours in his 16-ball 25 to get the Titans going in the run chase.
Gill’s best shot of the game was a back foot punch off CSK’s impact player Tushar Deshpande, which he followed up with a pick up shot over midwicket. Sai Sudharsan, who filled in for an injured Kane Williamson, led the Titans with 22 points on 17 shots.
When Gill left, the Titans needed 41 runs off the final five overs, but CSK held on to win. Rashid Khan’s cameo (10 not out of 3) was all that was needed to calm the Titans’ nerves.
Earlier, Gaikwad put on a show of effortless hitting, collecting as many as nine sixes with lofted drives over extra cover and crisp pull shots. Apart from Gaikwad, the only other batter who put the Titans on the back foot was Moeen Ali, who hit a 17-ball 23. The highlight of Ali’s cameo was a flat six off Mohammad Shami on a free-hit ball.
Gaikwad set the tone for his innings by pulling IPL debutant Joshua Little on the first ball. That over yielded 15 runs, and with Shami conceding 17 runs in the next over, CSK gained the momentum they desired.
The Titans’ ace Rashid Khan was introduced in the powerplay, and as he frequently does, he got the wicket that his team needed by catching the dangerous-looking Ali behind.
Rashid dismissed England Test captain Ben Stokes in his second over, who was also caught by wicketkeeper Saha, leaving CSK at 70 for three. However, the loss of wickets did not cause Gaikwad to alter his strategy, as he continued to hit boundaries. In the eighth over, he welcomed Alzarri Joseph into the attack by smashing him for three sixes.
The Titans did well in the middle overs to stem the flow of runs and got the wicket of Ambati Rayudu. Shivam Dube struggled to find big hits, putting pressure on Gaikwad, who was caught in the deep in the 17th over and fell short of a well-deserved century.
M S Dhoni batted at number eight but still made an impact, pulling Little for a six before flicking him for a four in the final over, sending the crowd into a frenzy. Williamson limped off the pitch after injuring his knee while fielding at the boundary. CSK scored 45 runs in the final five overs.
