MS Dhoni’s Chennai Super Kings reigned supreme in Qualifier-1 of the 16th season of the IPL as CSK thrashed defending champions Gujarat Titans by 15 runs in front of their home crowd in Chepauk to enter the 10th final. Chasing a target of 173 runs, the Titans lost all wickets for 157 runs in 20 overs. Rashid Khan smashed at the tail end but the Titans were unable to achieve the target of 34 runs in the last two overs. The Titans have one more chance to reach the finals. The second qualifier on the 26th will decide the fate of defending champions Hardik Pandya and his team.
In reply, Gujarat Titans did not get off to a promising start. When the team score reached 22 in three overs, Deepak Chahar dismissed Wriddhiman Saha (12 off 11 balls). After that, the captain Hardik Pandya (8 off 7 balls) returned quickly and the Titans were 41-2 in 5.5 overs. After this, Jadeja was seen giving a double blow to the Titans. Shubman Gill settled in at one end as in the last two matches but Dasun Shanaka fell for 17 off 16 balls while trying to get the runs going. Firecracker David Miller (4 off 6 balls) also returned as usual.
After losing the toss, CSK went into bat and scored 172 runs for the loss of 7 wickets in the allotted 20 overs. Openers Ruturaj Gaekwad and Devon Conway scored 60 and 40 for Chennai, while skipper MS Dhoni returned with 1 off 2 balls. Ravindra Jadeja (22 off 16 balls) returned with the last ball of the innings while Moeen Ali (9* off 4 balls) remained unbeaten. Ajinkya Rahane (17 off 10 balls), Ambati Rayudu (17 off 9 balls) and Shivam Dubey (1 off 3 balls) were the other players’ scores. Mohammad Shami and Mohit Sharma took two wickets each, Darshan Aparande, Rashid Khan and Noor Ahmed took one wicket each.
