CSK vs GT Highlights Qualifier 1: CSK 172/7 (20), GT 157 all out (20) - Chennai beats Gujarat by 15 runs to enter IPL 2023 final

What a fantastic show from Chennai and they are through to the final with a solid 15-run win over Gujarat. Defending 172 runs, Deepak Chahar, Maheesh Theekshana, and Ravindra Jadeja proved to be the game-changers with the ball and then Matheesha Pathirana picked two with Tushar Deshpande also in the wickets column. On a slow wicket, Dhoni was at his best marshalling his troops as Chennai will board the flight to Ahmedabad to play the final.

Rashid Khan injects hope with a boundary but Dhoni’s brilliant captaincy skills helps Chennai as Deshpande removes Rashid with Conway stationed specifically at the deep with Rashid looking for the big shot. Top captaincy.

Pathirana strikes to remove Shankar and Chennai has one foot in the final, courtesy of a terrific catch from Ruturaj Gaikwad at the deep mid-wicket as Gaikwad charged in and put in a brilliant dive to pack off the big hitter. Oh, dear! Gujarat is further in trouble as Darshan Nalkande is run-out with Subhranshu Senapatai (Sub), the substitute fielder hitting the bull’s eye! CSK loses an LBW review as Rashid survives.

Vijay Shankar keeps Gujarat in the hunt by smashing Deshpande for a maximum down the ground and then Rashid nails the pacer over long-on for a maximum before ending the over with a boundary and this has been poor bowling. 19 runs from the over.

Rashid Khan hits Pathirana for a six and then a boundary to the fine leg as Gujarat needs 58 runs in 24 balls. The game is still hanging in balance as Rashid can be dangerous with his big hits.

Theekshana castles Tewatia and it’s not that night where the batsman is going to play a blinder and stun the home crowd. A quicker one that deceived Tewatia and with six down Gujarat is staring down the barrel. Theekshana finishes with figures of 4-0-28-2.

Chahar picks his second wicket and that might just be the game for Chennai as he removes Shubman Gill who hits straight down the throat of Conway at the deep square leg who just moved a bit to take an easy catch and the Chennai fans are ecstatic. Vijay Shankar is off the mark and this match is slowly obeying the orders from Dhoni.

This is spectacular bowling from Ravindra Jadeja as Miller departs and Chennai bossing the game at this moment with Gujarat four down. There was turn and Miller missed the flick as Jadeja knocked down the big-hitter. Top bowling as the all-rounder finishes with 4-0-18-2.

Matheesha Pathirana into the attack and the bowler starts with wide and the pacer bowls one that clicks 150kph! 10 runs from the over with the speedster bowling four wides in his opening over.

Jadeja strikes as Shanaka’s reverse sweep doesn’t work as the batsman hits straight to Theekshana, who moved to his right to take a good catch at short third man. Top over from Jadeja as he gives just two and takes an important wicket.

Shanaka takes Theekshana for a ride as he lofts the spinner for a boundary over the deep mid-wicket and then nails a brilliant six over the long-off for a maximum. 13 runs from the over.

Gill fetches a much-needed boundary by employing the sweep shot and he needs to bat through to keep Gujarat alive in this run chase. Gujarat needs 114 runs in 66 balls and has to build on their required run rate.

Theekshana continues to tie down the Gujarat batsmen as just six runs come from his second over. Shanaka and Gill have a job in their hands. The good thing for Gujarat is the 50 is up.

Jadeja into the attack and the spinner purchases turn and bounce as Chennai applies brakes on Delhi’s progress. Gill did score a boundary with a fierce cut but Jadeja bounces back to keep things under control.

Maheesh Theekshana into the attack and this will be an interesting period of play as Chennai will attack with spin. The move has worked as the spinner removes Hardik with Jadeja taking an excellent catch at point.

Hardik Pandya walks in and exhibits his class with a wonderful shot by opening the face of his bat, rising on the pace of Deshpande and guiding the ball through the point for a boundary. Gill continues his fine form as he brings his wrists into play and exhibits a lovely on-drive. Gujarat is up and running.

A beautiful flick from Gill sends Chahar over the fine leg for a maximum with MS standing up the stumps. Saha then pulled Chahar over the mid-wicket but Chahar hit back by removing the opener who hit straight to Pathirana who was stationed at deep square leg.

Tushar Deshpande into the attack and Saha was almost back in the hit as a lofted uppish drive fell just short of Ambati Rayudu at cover. A tough chance goes begging as Chahar fails to latch on to a Gill on-drive and then the batsman gets the first boundary of the innings by dispatching Deshpande to the long-on boundary.

Both Gill and Saha are off the mark with singles with Chahar getting a hint of swing and bounce. Top start from Chennai and Chahar.

Vijay Shankar comes in as an Impact Player in place of Mohit Sharma. It will be Deepak Chahar with Saha on strike and Gill as his partner.

A tricky chase awaits Gujarat on a slow surface and Moeen Ali did provide some fireworks as it was Ruturaj Gaikwad’s half-century that anchored the innings along with decent contributions from Devon Conway, Ambati Rayudu and Ravindra Jadeja. 15 runs from the last over and 35 from the last three overs as Gujarat chases 173 for a place in the final.

Jadeja goes over covers and finds a much-needed boundary as Dhoni gets off the mark with a single through the point region. It was pin-drop silence as Dhoni tried to hit Mohit over the overs but Hardik took a neat catch to end the CSK skipper’s innings.

The boundaries have dried up and Chennai needs a couple of big overs to post a competitive total on the board. Rayudu connects as he pulls Rashid for a maximum over the deep mid-wicket. However, Rashid has the last laugh as he removes Rayudu as he fails to get the distance as Shanaka takes a good catch. But the Chennai crowd is celebrating as Dhoni walks in.

Pace off on this surface and Mohit Sharma has bowled beautifully deceiving the batsmen from playing the big shots. The Gujarat bowlers are mixing their deliveries well and Chennai needs at least 180 to make a match out of it.

Shami gets Conway and the opener’s struggle ends with a scratchy 34-ball 40 as he hits straight to Rashid at deep mid-wicket. Jadeja is off the mark and Chennai will look to surge ahead with both Rayudu and Jadeja getting their experience into play.

Conway rides on his luck as an outside edge just evades a diving Saha as finally, a boundary comes for Chennai and then Rahane breaks away from the shackles with a flick over the deep mid-wicket for a maximum. Young Nalkande strikes back and as he removes Rahane cuts straight to Shubman Gill at the backward point. Rayudu walks in and walks down the track to spank the fast bowler through the covers for a boundary.

Rashid Khan is back into the attack and Gujarat has caged Chennai at this moment with the boundaries drying up. Saha puts down a tough chance as Conway got a nick. Rashid and Conway dealing in singles and twos with the run-rate dropping to seven from eight.

Gujarat pulling back things with two wickets and on a slow surface, this is not a 200 kind of a wicket. Rahane has walked in but it will be Conway who will hold the key as the new batsmen will find it difficult to time the ball and have to curb their natural game of going on the attack straight away, as Conway and Rahane are struggling to find the boundaries. Time for a drinks break.

Gujarat pegs back Chennai as Noor Ahmed packs off the dangerous Shivam Dube with the wrist spinner castling the big-hitter who went for a heave but missed the ball completely to see his leg-stump flattened. Ajinkya Rahane is the new man in.

Mohit Sharma with the breakthrough and the veteran has removed Ruturaj who falls for a 44-ball 60 - an innings that was laced with an element of luck. Shivam Dube joins Conway and is off the mark with a single.

Conway is finding a bit of rhythm and luck as the batsman went hard at Noor’s tossed-up delivery and got a thick outside edge. Chennai up and running at this moment.

Noor Ahmad operates with a spin in position and the wrist spinner gives just seven runs in his second over and Gujarat now looking desperately for a breakthrough. Chennai going at eight runs per over on a slightly slow surface and will look to go big as the game progresses.

Rashid continues and the fifty is up for Chennai with both Gaikwad and Conway settling in nicely. Gaikwad is continuing with his fine form as the batsman employed a late cut to fetch an important boundary.

Spin from both ends as Noor Ahmed, the left-arm wrist spinner comes into the attack and Ruturaj welcomes the spinner with a pull over the mid-wicket for a boundary as Chennai makes a mover on. Noor almost had Conway as Shanaka put in a brilliant dive at short third man but the ball evaded the fielder and raced away to the fence.

Spin early into the attack and it’s Rashid Khan who beats Gaikwad in his very first delivery with a quicker one. Gaikwad is looking positive as he plays a wonderful inside-out shot and drives the spinner uppishly over the covers for a boundary.

The lengths have been good from both Shami and Nalkande and it’s Ruturaj who has been the accelerator as Conway has largely struggled for timing, searching for the perfect ball to fetch his first boundary. The left-hander finally gets the ball to the boundary by guiding the pacer through the point. This has been an electrifying start with both teams trying to win the PowerPlay.

There was class written all over the shot from Gaikwad as he leans into the length delivery and drilled Shami through the covers for an exquisite boundary. This is top batting from Gaikwad and the opener will look to encash on the life provided by Gujarat.

Darshan Nalkande dismissed Ruturaj Gaikwad but the speedster over-stepped which resulted in a Nob-Ball and that was a golden life to the CSK opener. Gaikwad takes full advantage and smokes the fast bowler for a maximum as the ball lands in the CSK dug-out and then timed a length delivery beautifully through the covers for a boundary. Nalkande will be hurting but has the cover of Hardik and Nehra.

Excellent start from Shami as he gives just four runs from his opening over with both Gaikwad and Conway off the mark but there hasn’t been a boundary scored. The length has been good from Shami as he has cramped the batsmen for room and approached round the wicket to Conway. Interesting ploy.

The two umpires make their way to the centre and out sprint the Gujarat side amidst the fireworks and so do the opening pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway. It will be Mohammed Shami who will start proceedings with the new ball with Ruturaj on strike. Here we go!

Vijay Shankar, Srikar Bharat, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Jayant Yadav, Shivam Mavi

Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Hardik Pandya(c), Dasun Shanaka, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Darshan Nalkande, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana

“We will bowl first. We heard dew will come, so we want to know what exactly to chase down. We were told to relax after getting into the top-2, but we didn’t want, want to stay focussed and play good cricket. We are a smart team, we don’t play only one way, we make sure to get the best out of the wicket and have adapted. Darshan Nalkande comes in place of Yash Dayal.”

Gujarat Titans wins toss, opts to bowl first

Wicketkeeper:Devon Conway (c)

Batters: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shubman Gill (vc), Shivam Dube, David Miller

All-rounders: Ravindra Jadeja, Hardik Pandya, Moeen Ali

Bowlers: Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Matheesha Pathirana

Team Composition: GT 5:6 CSK Credits Left: 4.5

Mohit Sharma, Abhinav Manohar, Dasun Shanaka, Srikar Bharat, R. Sai Kishore

Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Yash Dayal, Noor Ahmad, Mohit Sharma

Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Vijay Shankar, Hardik Pandya (c), David Miller, Abhinav Manohar, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohammad Shami, Yash Dayal, Noor Ahmad

Ambati Rayudu, Matheesha Pathirana, Akash Singh, Mitchell Santner, Shaik Rasheed

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Shivam Dube, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (c) (wk), Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Shivam Dube, Ajinkya Rahane, MS Dhoni (c) (wk), Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana.

Matches played: 63

Won: 44

Lost: 19

Win%: 69.84

Last result: Lost to Kolkata Knight Riders by six wickets

Last five results: Won - 3; Lost - 2

Matches played: 3

Chennai Super Kings won: 0

Gujarat Titans won: 3

Last result: Gujarat Titans won by five wickets (Ahmedabad, 2023)

Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Hardik Pandya(c), Dasun Shanaka, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal, Vijay Shankar, Srikar Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Abhinav Manohar, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Matthew Wade, Darshan Nalkande, Urvil Patel, Sai Sudharsan, Jayant Yadav, Pradeep Sangwan

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Akash Singh, Sisanda Magala, Dwaine Pretorius, Ben Stokes, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar, Bhagath Varma, Nishant Sindhu