IPL 2023 Qualifier 1: Chennai Super Kings enter finals for 10th time, defeat Gujarat Titans by 15 runs

MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings accomplished a stunning defence of 172 in the first Qualifier of IPL 2023 as they defeated Gujarat Titans by 15 runs. Four-time champions CSK scored 172 on a challenging surface of MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai before their spinners starred and help them restrict GT to 157. With this, Chennai have confirmed their ticket to Ahmedabad and have reached in their 10th IPL final.

The 172-run target was looked suspiciously as dew helps the chasing teams. But with no dew coming in and surface becoming slower, the Chennai bowlers applied breaks to the strong batting unit of GT. The spinners were pretty economical in the middle. The duo of Maheesh Theekshana and Ravindra Jadeja gave only 46 runs in their 8 overs and got 4 wickets as well.

Deepak Chahar started doing damage as he got Saha out on his second over. Shubman Gill and Hardik Pandya then tried to steady the ship, but the latter fell to Theekshana. Gill was batting well and was looking to time the ball beautifully. But a short ball from Chahar, put curtains on his 42-run innings. With 58 needed off 24 balls, Rashid Khan tried putting some life into the chase. He and Vijay Shankar collected 32 runs in the 16th and 17th overs to



inflict hopes of the visitors. But Pathirana, who had a rare off day, took Shankar, before Dhoni plotted Rashid's dismissal by adding an extra fielder on the off side for Tushar Deshpande. Pathirana gave 11 in the final over but they were not enough as CSK found a way to beat GT for the first time in 4 attempts.

Chennai get to 172, thanks to Gaikwad

Chennai Super Kings made a shaky start as Ruturaj Gaikwad got lucky in the start. New entrant Darshan had got the CSK right-handed opener at mid-wicket but he had overstepped. Gaikwad then hit a six and a boundary to kick start the innings. The openers took Chennai to 49 without a wicket down. They collected a few more runs quickly and went to 85 in the first 10 overs but the ball looked gripping a bit. Mohit Sharma soon found Gaikwad miscuing a pull in the 11th over to long-on to find the opening. 

After the wicket of Gaikwad, CSK slowed down a bit in the middle overs. Noor Ahmad bowled Shivam Dube in the 12th over and Rahane fell prey to Darshan after hitting a six in the 15th over. By the middle phase got over, CSK were at 31/4 after 16 overs. Later Ravindra Jadeja hit a few boundaries and helped CSK post a challenging total on the board.