"Hard pill to swallow": Gill reflects on GT's crushing defeat to CSK

Ahmedabad (Gujarat) [India], May 25 (ANI): Gujarat Titans (GT) captain Shubman Gill admitted that the game slipped away early as his side suffered a heavy 83-run defeat against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday. Chasing a daunting 231-run target, GT were bundled out for just 147.
Speaking after the match, Gill pointed to a disastrous powerplay as the turning point.
"The game pretty much went away from us in the powerplay. We never really came back in the game; 230 is a big target," he said, as quoted from ESPNcricinfo.
The Titans looked out of sorts with both bat and ball. Their bowlers failed to contain a rampant CSK top order. Gill emphasized the need for composure, especially when playing against teams with nothing to lose.
"Teams that are already eliminated don't have anything to lose. We were not able to stay calm under pressure," he noted.
He also highlighted GT's inability to stem the flow of runs and pick up wickets in the middle overs.
"It's very important to control runs in the middle overs. If you don't pick wickets, it's always going to be difficult and challenging," he added.
"This one would be a hard pill to swallow for us. But on the bright side, we have two or three important games for us. Fortunately for me, going back to my hometown," he said.
Coming to the match, CSK won the toss and elected to bat first. A 63 run second wicket stand between Urvil Patel (37 in 19 balls, with four boundaries and two sixes) and Devon Conway (52 in 35 balls, with six fours and two sixes) and a 74-run fifth wicket stand between Dewald Brevis (57 in 23 balls, with four boundaries and five sixes) and Ravindra Jadeja (21* in 18 balls, with a four and six) took CSK to 230/5.
Prasidh Krishna (2/22) was GT's top bowler.
In the run-chase, GT was never really in contention as they lost wickets consistently. Sai Sudharsan (41 in 28 balls, with six fours) top scored as Noor Ahmed (3/21), Anshul Kamboj (3/13) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/17) dismantled GT, bundling them out fot 147 in 18.3 overs.
With this win, CSK finish last with four victories and 10 losses, giving them eight points. GT end campaign with a loss which could hamper their top two chances, with nine wins and five losses, giving them 18 points. (ANI)