Gujarat thumps Chennai to seal qualifier 1 spot in Indian Premier League

AHMEDABAD, India (AP) — Opening pair Sai Sudharsan and Shubman Gill propelled the Gujarat Titans to a thumping 89-run win over Chennai on Thursday to end the Super Kings’ slim playoff hopes in the Indian Premier League.

Sudharsan (84) struck his fifth straight half-century and Gill made 64 in Gujarat’s imposing total of 229-4 with Jos Buttler smashing an unbeaten 57.

Chennai capitulated for 140 in 13.4 overs and rounded off a below-par season with 12 points from six wins.

Gujarat’s win ensured its place in qualifier 1 with 18 points from nine wins. The second spot for qualifier 1 will be decided Friday when defending champions Royal Challengers Bengaluru take on Sunrisers Hyderabad.

“Important win and happy to go in (the playoffs) with the momentum we have,” Gill said. “Need to maintain intent and impact in the playoffs. After 12 games, we were No. 1 last season, same this time. There was some deja vu but I don’t think we’ve done much different this season, we’ve been consistently No. 1 or 2.”

Sudharsan and Gill, IPL’s top two run-scorers this season, provided a blazing start of 125 off 74 balls with Gill scoring a 23-ball half-century before holing out in the 13th over.

Sudharsan looked set for his second century of the season before holing out to long-off in the penultimate over against expensive fast bowler Anshul Kamboj (1-56), but not before the left-hander had shared an 87-run stand off 37 balls with Buttler.

Like Gill, Buttler also raised his half-century off 23 balls with back-to-back boundaries against Kamboj as the Englishman also took on premier spinner Noor Ahmad, who returned with 0-41 of his three overs.

Mohammed Siraj dented Chennai's top-order inside his first 10 balls when he had Sanju Samson caught behind of the first ball; hit the top of captain Ruturaj Gaikwad’s off-stump and then Urvil Patel top-edged a pull to deep backward square leg.

Samson had a forgetful last game of the season when he left the field in the second over of Gujarat batting due to a finger injury as he tried to stop Spencer Johnson’s down the leg side delivery and Kartik Sharma took over the wicketkeeping duties.

Chennai slumped to 29-3 inside the first three overs against Siraj’s burst and then further slipped to 51-4 when Kagiso Rabada (3-32) had Matthew Short caught at mid-on.

Shivan Dube struck four sixes and four boundaries in his rapid 17-ball knock of 47 before Rashid Khan claimed 3-18 in his two overs and Rabada finished off the innings by claiming the last two wickets off successive balls.

“When you’re chasing 230, it’s not easy against that bowling attack,” Gaikwad said. “Our bowling wasn’t good in the powerplay (and it was) hard to stop their openers.”

Gaikwad said it was tough season for Chennai in which they lost eight games that included three successive losses against Rajasthan Royals, Punjab Kings and Bengaluru.

“After a hat trick of losses first up, we found momentum," he said as Chennai won six out of the next eight games before losing the last three games. "We found the right spots and combinations, but then were hit by injuries … we were a batter or bowler short in the last three games.”

AP cricket: https://apnews.com/hub/cricket

Gujarat Titans' Mohammed Siraj celebrate with teammates the wicket of Chennai Super Kings' Sanju Samson during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, May 21, 2026.(AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Gujarat Titans' Jos Buttler celebrates his fifty runs during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, May 21, 2026.(AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Gujarat Titans' captain Shubman Gill plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, May 21, 2026.(AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

Gujarat Titans' Sai Sudharsan plays a shot during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Chennai Super Kings in Ahmedabad, India, Thursday, May 21, 2026.(AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

NEW YORK (AP) — The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services on Thursday announced it is supercharging its use of artificial intelligence to police how states and other recipients of federal health dollars are auditing their programs. The move is intended to tamp down risks of fraud and save the government money.

The department will use ChatGPT and other AI tools to analyze audit reports from all 50 states on an ongoing basis, said Gustav Chiarello, the assistant secretary for financial resources who is leading the new program.

“It’s classic big government: Everyone files an audit and it lands with a thud and no one does anything about it,” Chiarello said in an interview. “Here, with AI, we’re able to dig into it.”

The move builds on the department's embrace of generative AI for investigating state Medicaid programs, automating administrative tasks and editing text. AI tools can be a powerful aid in finding patterns or problems across large documents, but critics say the government should use them with caution because they frequently make mistakes and can have unintended biases.

The Trump administration and Vice President JD Vance’s anti-fraud task force have spent recent months promoting efforts to crack down on fraud in the Medicaid and Medicare programs as well as in student loan applications and other areas. Those efforts have also involved using AI technology to flag likely fraud, Federal Trade Commission Chairman Andrew Ferguson said recently on Fox News.

States, local governments, nonprofits and higher education institutions that spend at least $1 million in federal money a year are required to submit annual audits. The new initiative will use AI to analyze those audits from HHS-funded programs, including state Medicaid programs and federal grantees in research, addiction services and more, Chiarello said.

Recipients that do not file the required reports or resolve problems in them could face a loss of funding.

Critics have blasted the administration's anti-fraud efforts, noting most have been targeted at Democratic states and at times have reflected a tendency to attack first and gather the facts later. On at least one occasion, the administration acknowledged to The Associated Press that it made a major mistake in data it had used to help justify a New York Medicaid fraud investigation.

Asked about safeguards against the AI tools making mistakes, Chiarello noted that officials were evaluating public reports rather than uncovering new information. He said the tools were intended to make grantees better stewards of federal dollars.

Rob Weissman, co-president of the consumer rights advocacy group Public Citizen, said he doesn’t think the administration is seriously concerned about fraud, and doesn’t trust it to use AI tools in a fair and nonpartisan way.

“The AI is kind of beside the point when you assess what their actual objectives are, rather than what they pretend they are,” he said.

HHS said it has sent letters to governors and treasurers in all 50 states alerting them to the new initiative. The program was first reported by The Wall Street Journal.

Chiarello said he has been in touch with his counterparts in other federal departments in hopes that they follow his lead.

“It would be fairly easy for the other agencies to use our technology and jump on it,” he said.

FILE - The Department of Health and Human Services building is seen in Washington, April 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana, File)