Ahmedabad, May 25 (PTI) Seasoned Devon Conway and promising Dewarld Brevis produced fifties of contrasting character, laying the foundation for Chennai Super Kings’ healthy 230 for five against Gujarat Titans here on Sunday.
Once the Super Kings elected to field first on a super hot noon, their batters vindicated the call by skipper MS Dhoni.
Conway and Brevis led the charge with a 52 off 35 balls, and a 23-ball 57 on a smooth pitch.
But Conway’s knock was put to shade a bit by cameos by Ayush Mhatre (34, 17b) and Urvil Patel (37, 19b), who made runs at a respective strike rate of 200 and 194 ensured runs came at a fast clip for CSK.
The Chennai outfit raced out of the paddock, making 44 in just 3.4 overs, made possible by Mhatre’s brutal assault on pacer Arshad Khan.
Mhatre carved Arshad for 2, 6, 6, 4, 4, 6 in the second over to milk 28 runs and Chennai rarely let that momentum slip.
Mhatre, who was recently appointed as the India U19 skipper, soon fell to Prasidh Krishna, skying him to Mohammed Siraj in the deep.
But Urvil continued the aggressive ways, while adding 63 runs for the second wicket with Conway.
The highlight of his innings was a pick-up shot he played against veteran spinner Rashid Khan that sailed over his head for a six.
It’s one thing to play that shot against pacers, but to impart timing and power to it against a spinner is totally another thing.
However, Urvil perished to left-arm spinner Sai Kishore immediately after hammering for a six.
On the other hand, Conway showed a rare moment of aggression launching Rashid for a six over long-on but was clean bowled.
But Brevis, who smashed India pacer Siraj for 6, 6, 4, justified his ‘Baby ABD’ tag to perfection, smashing GT bowlers all around the park.
The South African played a belligerent knock of his own to raise 74 runs for the entertaining fifth wicket alliance with Ravindra Jadeja in which the latter contributed just 21 off 18 balls.
It was the CSK’s young batters’ final innings of this IPL, and it might have given a note of optimism for the management too for the next season.