Marching on into their 10th IPL final, in 14 seasons, are MS Dhoni‘s army, the Chennai Super Kings (CSK). CSK defeated table-toppers and defending champions Gujarat Titans in Qualifier 1 at the Chepauk on Wednesday.
After being asked to bat first, CSK got another solid start from their openers, Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad, the pair putting up 87 runs in 10.3 overs on a surface that was gripping, holding, getting slower as the match progressed.
Gaikwad scored 60 runs while Conway scored 40. Cameos from Rahane, Rayudu, and Jadeja helped CSK reach a total of 172, which, Hardik Pandya said, was “15 runs” more than what he would have liked to stop Chennai on. Hardik was spot on in his assessment as GT lost the match by exactly 15 runs.
In the chase, GT lost Saha in the third over and then Hardik Pandya in the 6th over. While Shubman Gill held his end, the other GT batters couldn’t support – Shanaka and Miller were next to go. And when Gill got out, in the 14th over for 42 runs, a victory for Dhoni-led side seemed inevitable. Some late hits from Rashid kept CSK alive till the penultimate over, but it only delayed the celebrations that followed once GT were bowled out on the last ball of the match.
Fireworks went off, the CSK staff and some players ran on the ground to celebrate theirs reaching yet another final – more so, happiness after finishing 9th in the points table last season.
Fireworks in the form of memes also went off on Twitter.
Here are some hilarious memes on CSK’s win over GT in Qualifier 1:
"tune toh harwane ka plan hi bana liya tha bey" pic.twitter.com/XBQSbHHXOC
— ex. capt (@thephukdi) May 23, 2023
2020: CSK finished second last
2021: CSK won trophy
2022: CSK finished second last
2023: pic.twitter.com/sASv3NXdz1— Sagar (@sagarcasm) May 23, 2023
Behen ki shaadi CSK in IPL finals pic.twitter.com/NSMJ4lmU6M
— Pakchikpak Raja Babu (@HaramiParindey) May 23, 2023
— Ajeet Kumar (@ajeetkumar_12) May 23, 2023
Every time there's a dot ball pic.twitter.com/uRDvG4B9lX
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) May 23, 2023
https://twitter.com/GaurangBhardwa1/status/1661068098877947904?s=20
— Raja Babu (@GaurangBhardwa1) May 23, 2023
https://twitter.com/sagrdp7/status/1661067270003757056?s=20
— Raja Babu (@GaurangBhardwa1) May 23, 2023
https://twitter.com/smileandraja/status/1661006510129033217?s=20
CSK entering IPL finals pic.twitter.com/Sq2sGdFCSY
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) May 23, 2023
CSK entering their 10th IPL final pic.twitter.com/fM4VfX4LAP
— Sagar (@sagarcasm) May 23, 2023
