Gujarat Titans came to the playoffs from the top by winning one match after another in the group stage. Hardik Pandya’s team was thought by many to be unstoppable. But in the first qualifier, that formidable team crumbled in front of Mahindra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings. After defeating them by 15 runs, Chennai Super Kings entered the IPL final for the 10th time.
Age 42 years old. Mahindra Singh Dhoni’s short leadership even at this age is surprising. Chennai Super Kings became such a successful team under his leadership. This time again mainly due to Dhoni’s leadership and good team management, the yellow jersey holders have reached the final.
Chennai batted first at the M Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai and collected 172 runs after losing 7 wickets. In response, Gujarat Titans were all out for 157 runs in front of the controlled bowling of Chennai bowlers. As a result of this defeat, Gujarat did not have a farewell. They will play in the second qualifier today against the winner between Mumbai and Lucknow.
Gujarat got off to a good start by going into bat with a target of 173 runs to win. Wriddhiman Saha and Shubman Gill shared a partnership of 22 runs in 3 overs. Wriddiman was dismissed for 12 runs. Shubman Gill scored 42 runs.
But without Shubman, Gujarat’s top order, and middle order showed complete failure. Hardik Pandya scored 8 runs off 7 balls. Lankan Dasun Sanaka was out for 17 off 16 balls. David Miller is out for 4 runs. Vijay Shankar scored 14 runs. Rahul Tewatia departed after scoring only 3 runs.
In the end, Afghan Rashid Khan tried to make some resistance in the field. But his 30 off 16 balls only narrowed the gap. He also hit 2 sixes with 3 boundaries. Another Afghan Noor Ahmad was unbeaten on 7 runs. Mohammad Shami was dismissed for 5 runs in the very last ball.
Deepak Chahar, Mahesh Thiksana, Ravindra Jadeja, and Mathias Pathirana took 2 wickets each for Chennai. Tushar Deshpande took 1 wicket.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings lost the toss and lost 7 wickets to bat and collected 172 runs. Rituraj Gaikwad scored a maximum of 60 runs. Devon Conway scored 40 runs. Ravindra Jadeja scored 22 runs and Ajinkya Rahane and Ambati Rayudu scored 17 runs each.
The 2023 Indian Premier League IPL ends with the final on Sunday at 7.30 pm India time.
