The defending champions of the Indian Premier League, Gujarat Titans, have gone two for two in qualifying for consecutive Finals since their 2022 inception.
They meet perennial finalists and winners, Chennai Super Kings, in a fixture that has a nice symmetry to it - the first match of the tournament was also between these two sides.
Chennai booked their place in the Final with a win over Gujarat in Qualifier 1, with the Titans having to overcome Mumbai Indians to set up a rematch in the Final.
The Super Kings will have the opportunity to equal Mumbai's record five IPL titles. Interestingly, Qualifier 1 took place in Chennai, whereas the Final will be hosted at Gujarat's home stadium in Ahmedabad.
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| Chennai Super Kings will be going for a record-equalling five IPL titles, while Gujarat Titans will look to defend the title they won in their debut season in 2022 [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
IPL 2023 Qualifier 2 review - Gujarat Titans vs Mumbai Indians
Mumbai won toss and chose to bowl, Titans were going well with Gill in particular picking up the scoring. On the penultimate delivery of the powerplay, Gill was put down at mid-on by Tim David diving to his right while on 30 as Gujarat ultimately ended the powerplay 50-0.
Midway through the seventh, Piyush Chawla made the breakthrough as he has often done in IPL 2023, coaxing Wriddhiman Saha down the track with a wide ball down the leg-side, which the opener duly missed as Ishan Kishan did the rest to dismiss him for 18 from 16.
Another fifty for Gill was brought up in 32 balls, with Titans reaching 91-1 at halfway. Gill's sensational form continued in the next couple of overs as he hit a flurry of sixes to get him to 99. Indeed, at the start of the 14th over the partnership between him and Sai Sudharsan stood at 85 off 40 balls, with the latter accounting for just 20 of those. Gill then brought up his third century in four matches, this time in 49 balls.
Despite typically being known for his classy stroke-making, Gill proved he has tremendous power and six-hitting ability to go along with as he raced to 123 with four overs to go, with Gujarat in a commanding position at 183-1. His stunning innings eventually came to an end on 129 off just 60 balls as he holed out to the man who had put him down 99 runs ago in David at deep midwicket.
Sudharsan then became the latest player in this year's IPL to retire out, heading off with 43 from 32 balls to his name as Gujarat looked to improve upon their already imposing total of 214-2 heading into the final over. Hardik Pandya struck the final delivery of the innings from Chris Jordan over extra cover to finish on 28 off 13 as he helped Titans to a mammoth 233-3.
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| Shubman Gill struck another sublime IPL century, his third in four innings, to propel Gujarat Titans to an enormous total that even Mumbai Indians' batting lineup couldn't contend with [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
It was Nehal Wadhera who joined his captain Rohit Sharma out in the middle for the chase, with Kishan off injured after incredibly innocuously colliding with teammate Jordan's elbow at the backend of the first innings. Shami soon got another first over wicket as Wadhera got a nick behind for four looking to swing one over midwicket.
Cam Green then retired hurt just three balls into his innings after getting stung on the arm by a sharp delivery from Hardik. Shami got his second after Rohit skied one to fine leg where Josh Little took the catch with the skipper gone for eight from seven. Tilak Varma then smoked 24 off Shami's third as Mumbai all of a sudden reached 65-2 after five.
He was soon gone, though, after the brilliant Rashid Khan went right through him after missing a slog sweep off the last ball of the powerplay with Mumbai 72-3, with Tilak gone for 43 from just 14. Green then returned to join Suryakumar Yadav at the crease, with the pair helping Mumbai to 110-3 at halfway.
The Australian was undone shortly after with a beauty from Little scorched through his defences as he departed for 30 from 20. Suryakumar brought up his fifty in 33 balls with his trademark hook/scoop hybrid shot over the 'keeper for six.
He was then knocked over for 61 off 38 attempting something similar off the bowling of Mohit Sharma to leave Mumbai needing 79 in five and a half overs. Vishnu Vinod then perished two balls later after chipping a slower ball to Hardik at cover for just five off seven.
If there was any hope left for the five-time winners then Rashid (4-0-33-2) took it away, having David dismissed lbw for two. It was then two in three for Mohit as he had both Jordan and Chawla out caught down the ground. Mohit (2.2-0-10-5) picked up his five-for with another very similar wicket to seal the win and route to the final once more, with Mumbai all out for 171.
Where the previous two IPL 2023 CSK vs GT matches were won and lost
Match 1 - GT vs CSK
The first game between the two this year saw a stunning start from CSK's Ruturaj Gaikwad. Disappointing for Chennai, though, he was the sole contributor in terms of a significant score. He made 92 off 50 balls out of Super Kings' 178-5, with Moeen Ali the second-highest scorer with 23. Devon Conway was dismissed early by Shami, a matchup that will likely prove crucial again in the Final.
Rashid was typically economical and produced the key wickets of Moeen and Ben Stokes on his way to 2-26 from his four overs. Chennai were able to get after Hardik, Little and Yash Dayal, but Shami, Rashid and Alzarri Joseph were the standouts for the Titans with two wickets apiece.
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| Rashid Khan was typically excellent in the opening fixture of IPL 2023 against Chennai Super Kings, taking 2-26 from his four overs [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Unsurprisingly, Gill laid the foundations in the chase with a 36-ball 63 as he and Saha put on a quickfire 37 for the opening wicket. Sudharsan was solid with his 22 from 17, with Gujarat losing wickets in semi-regular intervals. It did look like getting a bit hairy towards the end but Rashid struck ten from three to help Gujarat over the line with four balls and five wickets to spare.
Tushar Deshpande was extremely expensive, going for 51 in 3.2 overs. He has, though, shown some significant improvements as the season has gone on and will likely have learned immensely since the rather harrowing night in Ahmedabad in Match 1. The left-arm spinners in Ravindra Jadeja and Mitchell Santner were tidy and got CSK into a reasonable position.
Two of the five-man attack are unlikely to feature in the Final, with Maheesh Theekshana and Sri Lanka teammate Matheesha Pathirana likely to be preferred once more.
Qualifier 1 - GT vs CSK
It was Gaikwad again who was the thorn in the Gujarat side, taking charge of the scoring on his way to 60 from 44. Conway did get runs this time, but they were hard to come by. Again Shami was a danger, though he took his two wickets at the death this time around.
Interestingly, it was largely down to Gaikwad again as far as the CSK total was concerned. Not many were able to contribute, with a number of starts from the likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu and Jadeja. When a player did put a meaningful score on the board in the form of Conway, it was without providing true momentum.
Had debutant Darshan Nalkande not overstepped when he had Gaikwad caught early, things may have been very different. It would, though, naturally have given others more time to play their way in but could quite as easily have produced a similar output from the middle order.
Two of the fresh additions to the bowling lineup from Match 1 for the Titans, Mohit Sharma and Noor Ahmad, bowled well. Rashid was a little more expensive, however.
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| It was Ruturaj Gaikwad who was again the main man for Chennai when batting first against Gujarat in IPL 2023 [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
Titans could not get off to any sort of quick start in their response and, despite only being two down at halfway with Gill still at the crease, were fairly significantly behind the rate. Three overs later, they were five down with Miller then Gill gone and staring down the proverbial barrel.
Deepak Chahar was once again solid upfront and even bagged the wicket of Gill at the beginning of the 14th. The real problems posed to Gujarat were through spinners Jadeja and Theekshana, who finished with combined figures of 8-0-46-4 through the middle overs.
Pathirana has been an outstanding revelation, particularly at the death, and he picked up two wickets at the backend once more. Rashid threatened to do what had become the unthinkable with his 30 off just 16 but it was too little too late.
While the spinners were the key men for Chennai, it would be worth noting that the venue was the Super Kings' home ground, one that has become known to be particularly spin-friendly.
Key players and matchups that could influence the IPL 2023 Final
Naturally, Gill is the man of the moment and is the wicket that Chennai will cherish most of all. He led the Titans' successful chase against Chennai in the first meeting between the sides, but could not get going in the same manner in Qualifier 1. Regardless, he has still incredibly scored three centuries in four innings and is well clear atop the standings in the Orange Cap race, of which he is now the sole horse.
Chahar is always a threat up top, though it was Jadeja and Theekshana who slowed Gill down in Qualifier 1. Again, though, things may well be very different in Ahmedabad where the Gujarat opener has been starring.
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| Ravindra Jadeja bowled superbly against Gujarat in Qualifier 2 and kept star man Shubman Gill largely quiet [CREDIT: IPLT20] |
In the same vein, Rashid will always be a key player no matter the opponents, venue or situation. While he has been considerably more expensive than in previous IPL seasons, he has traded that off with taking a record amount of wickets. He has even provided some significant moments with the bat, namely his astonishing 79* against Mumbai Indians.
Rashid could be key in preventing Gaikwad from leading the Super Kings' innings against the Titans once more. Traditionally, Rashid's leg-breaks would be a tricky matchup against CSK's plethora of left-handers, but of course he sprinkles in a number of googlies to help combat. His compatriot Noor may also be a key player against the lefties, having bowled well in Qualifier 1.
While Conway has been prolific this season, it is true that he has not had the best of times in his two outings against Gujarat. Shami has been sensational inside the powerplay this year and Conway will need to navigate those overs carefully if he is to help set up the Chennai innings.
The introduction of Pathirana has given MS Dhoni a new go-to option at the death following the retirement of Dwayne Bravo. Deshpande has improvied in this area too but he was again expensive against the Titans in Qualifier 1 and it would stand to reason that they may well look to target him again as arguably the weak link of the attack.
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