Cricket News India – Four-time IPL Champions Chennai Super Kings defeated Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 of the IPL 2023 at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. With this win, CSK has booked their place in IPL 2023 Final. The match unfolded with Gujarat Titans scoring 173 runs total on board for GT to chase. And later CSK managed to restrict GT from chasing the target by wrapping their innings at 157 runs registering a gleaming victory.
Gujarat entered the cash-rich league last year when two new teams were added to the tournament. And since entering the league in 2022, there had been no instance where Gujarat has lost all 10 wickets in a fixture. However not much to their delight Gujarat Titans have lost all their wickets in their chase against Gujarat in the Qualifier 1 of IPL 2023. Titans loss was confirmed but a stunning running catch by Deepak Chahar on the final ball of the match resulted in Gujarat losing all wickets on the field.
Chennai defeated Gujarat to book a spot in the Playoffs
Batting first, Gujarat didn’t get off to a good start as they lost opener Wriddhiman Saha right in the third over of their innings for 12 runs off 11 balls. Thanks to Deepak Chahar who displayed a brilliant show with the ball in hand. Maheesh Theekshana then struck in the final over of the powerplay to send Captain Hardik Pandya packing.
Dasun Shanaka then tried to stabilize Gujarat’s innings by joining hands with Shubman Gill. However, he couldn’t make an impact & was dismissed off Ravindra Jadeja’s delivery. Wickets kept falling at regular intervals & their biggest bet Gill was also sent back to the hut in the 14th over after scoring 42 runs off 38 balls. Rashid Khan (30 off 20 balls) played a quick cameo but all efforts went in vain as they fell short of the target & were wrapped for 157 runs suffering a narrow 15 runs defeat.
Matheesha Pathirana was at his absolute best as he managed to scalp the tenth wicket on the final delivery of the fixture dismissing Mohammed Shami & sending the entire Gujarat clan to the pavilion. Chennai Super Kings has now booked a spot in the finals while Gujarat Titans will now play Qualifier 2 with the winner of the Eliminator clash.