IPL 2023: How CSK overcame the GT threat in Qualifier 1

It certainly appears as if the Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and IPL finals, and titles to an extent, are made for each other. CSK, after all, qualified for the summit clash in the world’s biggest T20 league for a record-extending 10th time with a 15-run victory over defending champions Gujarat Titans at MA Chidambaram Stadium on Tuesday.

IPL 2023: Full coverage | Points table | Schedule | Results | Orange Cap | Purple Cap​

Chennai may not have the most number of trophies in their cabinet yet with the Mumbai Indians still holding bragging rights in that aspect with five titles in six final appearances.

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IPL 2023: Ruturaj Gaikwad shines as CSK defeat GT in Qualifier 1

GT vs CSK, Highlights, IPL 2023 Qualifier 1 in Chennai: Chennai defeat Gujarat by 15 runs, enter 10th final

While MI are the most successful side purely on trophy count, there’s no denying that the MS Dhoni-led side are the most consistent when it comes to finishing in the top four at the end of the league stage and progressing to the grand finale. There’s also no denying about the kind of impact that the CSK has on individuals, both young and old, and how they become better players during their time in the Chennai locker room, something that sets this franchise apart from the rest.

Coming to the first playoff fixture of the 16th season, CSK’s performance against GT, whose team culture as well as consistency over the last two seasons appears to have been inspired by CSK, showed just why this team is so special and firm favourites to lift the trophy at the Narendra Modi Stadium on Sunday.

Gaikwad makes the most of a costly no-ball

After Gujarat captain Hardik Pandya won the toss and chose to stick to his team’s strength of chasing down targets, seamer Darshan Nalkande, replacing Yash Dayal in the only change across the two sides, appeared to have given the table toppers the ideal start after striking in what was only his third delivery of the season.

Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad, among the form batters this season with 564 runs, chipped towards Shubman Gill at midwicket to perish for 2 off just six balls. Or so GT thought. Moments later, the no-ball hooter went off at Chepauk, much to the boisterous, yellow-clad CSK fan army’s delight. The 26-year-old then gave an indication of what was to come by smashing Nalkande for a six and a four on the next two deliveries, breaking the shackles in the process.

The exploits of their in-form openers (Devon Conway being the other) has been the cornerstone of Chennai’s performances with the bat this season and while both have clicked on the same day at times, much to the resentment of opposition bowlers, they’ve also made sure to fill in for the other in case their partner found the going tough on a given day.

On Tuesday, it was Gaikwad who took centre-stage, surging ahead when Conway was struggling to time the ball, bringing up the fifty partnership shortly after the end of the powerplay. The pair had been rather sedate against Mohammed Shami and Rashid Khan, the two individuals at the very top of the bowling charts currently battling it out for the Purple Cap, while taking the odd risk against Noor Ahmad. They later welcomed Mohit Sharma into the attack with a 12-run over that included a couple of boundaries for Gaikwad.

At the halfway stage, Chennai were sitting pretty on 85 for no loss, with Gaikwad on 59, his knock the launchpad for Shivam Dube, Ambati Rayudu and the rest of the batting to go for the jugular in the second half of the innings. Though the Gujarat bowlers did fight back with a flurry of wickets with Mohit silencing the Chepauk crowd by removing Dhoni for just one, Gaikwad’s knock had ensured Chennai just two or three big overs to get to 172 — well below par at perhaps a Wankhede or a Chinnaswamy but quite the competitive score at Chepauk.

Disciplined bowling and fielding stifle the mighty Titans

The Chennai bowlers would’ve been thankful for dew not making much of an appearance when it was their turn to bowl. They still needed to find a way to keep the top-order batters, including and especially the in-form Shubman Gill, quiet for them to defend the 173-run target against a team that pulls off the trickiest of chases for breakfast and whose defeats while batting second could be counted on one finger.

Deepak Chahar drew first blood when he got rid of Wriddhiman Saha but the kind of form that the Bengal stumper-batter had been in this season didn’t exactly make him a major threat. Their eyes were firmly fixed on the 23-year-old who had struck match-winning tons in each of his last two outings. Shubman Gill appeared to have settled at the crease in Chennai, and was able to produce magical shots against the run-of-play in an attempt to try and unsettle the home team’s plans.

Dhoni’s decision to bring Maheesh Theekshana in the final over of the powerplay instantly paid dividends as the Sri Lankan off-spinner induced the GT skipper Hardik Pandya into a cut with a short, wide delivery, resulting in the ball flying straight to Ravindra Jadeja at backward point.

Jadeja was then introduced in the seventh and the veteran left-arm spinner would play a major role in drying up the runs for the Titans in the middle overs. Though he was welcomed into the attack with a firm cut behind square by Gill for a boundary, Jadeja would instantly respond with four consecutive dots, one of which was a spitting cobra that turned sharply away from the right-hander and forced him to abort an attempted pull shot.

Jadeja’s persistence with a tight line would yield the wickets of Dasun Shanaka and David Miller, the latter snuffed out for just 4, and signed off with superb figures of 2/18 at the end of his quota. With runs coming at a premium, the pressure started to mount on Gill and it was only a matter of time before he lost his composure and went for a wild slog, holing out to Conway at fine leg off Chahar’s bowling, leaving Gujarat tottering at 88/5 with nearly half the runs left to be chased in seven overs.

Chennai still couldn’t breathe easy just yet; they still had contend with the trio of Vijay Shankar, Rahul Tewatia and Rashid Khan, all three of whom are capable of causing mayhem with the bat on their day. While Tewatia was undone by a quicker delivery from Theekshana, Rashid and Vijay were starting to mount a resistance by capitalising on some wayward bowling from Matheesha Pathirana and Tushar Deshpande, with a combined 32 runs coming in the 16th and 17th overs.

If the bowling wasn’t doing the job at this stage, CSK’s fielding came to its rescue with Gaikwad pulling off a blinder at deep mid-wicket to dismiss Shankar and substitute fielder Subhranshu Senapati running Nalkande at the non-striker’s end with a direct hit.

In the end, it was Dhoni’s decision to have a sweeper point and instruct Deshpande to bowl wide at Rashid that led to Chennai eliminating the last remaining threat in their pursuit to end their winless run against GT and secure a direct entry into the final.

Pathirana continued to show some nerves while bowling the final over, perhaps still getting used to bowling on an occasion as big as an IPL knockout match, but in the end managed to regain his composure and dismiss Shami off the last ball to cap off another ideal day in office for Dhoni and Co.

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