GT vs CSK IPL Qualifier 1 Highlights: Chennai Super Kings enter finals, defeat Gujarat Titans by 15 runs

And there it is. CSK have won this game by 15 runs. What a match for the home side. They have done it. A great outing for those in yellow as they deny a chase to GT. 172 was challenging but it proved enough as there was no dew. CSK spinners applied breaks, Chahar got Gill and even though, Pathirana di not had a great day, there were others to keep GT at bay. CSK reach an IPL final for 10th time. They now go to Ahmedabad and have a long break

Dhoni got an extra fielder on the off side just now. Deshpande bowled a wide fuller ball and Rashid hands this to the deep off side fielder. What brilliant move by Dhoni and CSK. Rashid is back 

And CSK are again bossing this. Shankar has fallen and CSK have taken Darshan back too. 35 needed off 12 but Rashid is still there

Okay, GT have decided they will not go down without a fight. Rashid and Shankar are fighting and have hit 19 runs off the 17th over.38 needed off 18 balls

Rashid has hit a six and a four in the last three balls of the 16th over. But this looks very difficult for GT now.

CSk are choking GT in  the middle overs. The wicket of Gill was probably the game changer. GT need 78 off 36 and Shankar and Tewatia are in the middle.

Oh dear! CSK are doing wonders here. Miller and the dangerous Gill are back and Chennai are bossing this now. Chahar gets Gill and is that the game? A slower bouncer of his body and Gill wanted to pull this. But he has little control on this and Conway takes a catch at fine leg

And Jadeja strikes after the break. He has got Dasun Shanaka for 17. Length ball and onto the stumps, Shanaka wanted to reverse hit that but no power and catch taken at short third. Miller comes in

It's time to rethink the strategies. Gill is looking to have understood the pitch and conditions right and he playing on merit. Hitting occasional boundaries and keeping the scoreboard ticking, while keeping a price on his wicket. GT 59/2 after 9

Theekshana comes and does the trick for CSK. He removes the GT skipper Pandya. Good length ball, fired in by Theekshana and Pandya cuts aerial. Taken by Jadeja at backward point. Shanaka comes in

It's a fine start for GT. They are going just under 8 an over. The on pace balls have been put to the fence, while the slower ones are troubling the batters. Spin time now, Theekshana comes in.

Deepak Chahar gets a wicket in the powerplay another time. He has got the first of the match and has sent back Saha. A good length ball and it came slow onto the bat as Saha slogged it to backward square leg. Pandya comes in

We have impact subs coming into the game. Vijay Shankar is in for Mohit Sharma for GT. Meanwhile CSK have brought in Matheesha Pathirana for Shivam Dube

And we are back for the chase. The two GT openers - Gill and Saha are in the middle. Chahar to start for CSK. Chahar has a good record against Gill and has got him twice. Gill has scored 49 runs off him.

If you are wondering whether this is a good score or not. Here is what GT bowler Mohit Sharma has to say

It is sticking onto the surface, there was a bit of moisture in the early part, which made the ball stop. This is a good total on this surface and we'll have to bat well to chase it. The pitch is a bit sticky, we need to focus on ones and twos. I wanted to drag the length back and not give them room to play shots. There is no dew at all.

Jadeja is bowled on the final ball of the innings and CSK finish at 172/7. A mixed sort of innings for CSK. They made a solid start after Gaikwad got lucky in the 2nd over. He scored his 4th season fifty and CSK looked to build a strong platform for a good finish. They did so till some extent but lost wickets in the middle and did not score much there. The death overs brought some runs as they made 35 off the final 3 overs. There was a bit dew as told by commentators on air. So, this could be challenging to defend but CSK have a competitive target with them. Let's see whether GT will be able to chase.

Chepauk is stunned. MS Dhoni walks back. A few second earlier, the crowd was roaring for their team. And you could hear the pin dropping after Dhoni has departed. Complete silence. This was a slower one from Mohit and Dhoni read that. He wanted to clear the covers but there was not much timing as he sends this straight to Pandya at cover. CSK 5 down. 157 on the board after 19. Shami to bowl the final

Adn Rayudu falls after that six to Rashid. A fuller ball, he looked to pull it but did not get the power right. Dhoni comes to the crease. Have you heard a wicket being cheered by the home crowd like this? Oh yes, it is true when they see Dhoni coming.

Rayudu has achieved a major milestone in the game vs GT. He has made 6000 T20 runs in his career now. He has made 8 off 5 balls in the game. CSK are at 137/4 after 17. What a brilliant over by Mohit Sharma. He bowled slower balls and gave just 6 in the 17th. Last 3 overs now, who will break the shackles? Rashid to bowl his final.

And Conway follows Rahane. This was full and Conway looked to clear mid-wicket but not much timing on that and he holes it to Rashid Khan at deep mid-wicket. Two new batters - Rayudu and Jadeja in the middle

And this time Darshan will get his first of the season. He gets Ajinkya Rahane caught at backward point off the same fielder - Shubman Gill

It's time for another break in the innings. After 13 overs, CSK are at 99/2. Conway and Rahane are in the middle. Conway is finding it hard to time today, possibly due to the pitch is slowing down a bit. He is at 31 off 28. GT bowlers are changing the pace well as well. Rahane is at 4 off 4. How many is sufficient for CSK? 160 shall be good if dew does not comes in. If it does, CSK need 180 or more.

And CSK's spin hitter is done by Noor Ahmad. He wanted to hoick it over long-on, as he often does against spinners. But the ball turned came in with the angle and shattered the leg stump. Ajinkya Rahane now comes in. Noor is done with his 4. 1 wicket and 29 runs in the 4 overs, CSK 94/2 after 12

And this time Ruturaj Gaikwad has to go back. He has been caught out at long-on off Mohit Sharma's ball. He departs for 60 from 44 balls. Shivam Dube comes in.

And Gaikwad has quickly raced to a fifty here. A 36-ball fifty for the young opener and this is his 4th of the season. He is having some record against GT.

Gaikwad vs GT:

73(48), 2022, Pune
53(49), 2022, Mumbai WS
92(50), 2023,  Ahmedabad
51*(37), today, Chennai

Veteran Mohit Sharma has been introduced in the attack in the 9th over. He is having a season to remember

The powerplay is done and CSK have just missed getting 50 in the first 6 six overs. It's a good start for them though. Gaikwad has made 33 off 26 and Conway is on 14 off 11

It's spin time in the game now. Rashid Khan rolls his sleeves and is brought into the attack in the 4th over

CSK have made a fine start to their innings. They have hit 23 in the first 3 overs. Gaikwad is letting GT pay for the mistake Nalkande made. He has hit 14 runs off Nalkande's over and then hit Shami for a wonderful four

Ohh, Gaikwad was gone in the second over of Nalkande. He was caught out at mid-wicket by Shubman Gill. But Gaikwad survives as Darshan bowled a no-ball. 

And the action is underway in the 1st qualifier. CSK's in-form openers - Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway are in the middle. Mohammed Shami to start for GT. We are seein early swing from the speedster

Here are the subs of both the teams

Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed and Akash Singh are subs of CSK

Vijay Shankar, Srikar Bharat, Sai Sudharsan, Jayant Yadav and Shivam Mavi are subs of GT

Shubman Gill, Wriddhiman Saha(w), Hardik Pandya(c), Dasun Shanaka, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Darshan Nalkande, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami

We were wanting to bowl first too, reason being they're an excellent chasing side. We've exploited the conditions a bit better, in a tournament like this, the boys have adapted really well. It's crucial to back your strengths and the confidence level should be high. They've been able to do that and that's why we have done well. There was a lot of dew when we played here last, but with breeze around, we can't say about it tonight, but the wicket does look dry. We're playing the same side

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, MS Dhoni(w/c), Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana

We will be bowling first. We heard dew will come, so we want to know what exactly we have to chase down. We were told to relax after getting into the top-2, but we didn't want, we looked to stay focussed and play good cricket. We are a smart side and we don't play only one way. We look we get the best out of the wicket and have adapted. Darshan Nalkande comes in place of Yash Dayal

And Pandya has won the toss and GT will be bowling first. One change for GT. Darshan Nalkande is in for Yash Dayal. How is that for a surprise? No changes for CSK

It's 68m on one side and 63m on the other side of the square. The straight boundary is at 78m. Spinners would be tempting to play here. It's dry and will definitely turn. There are patches which will offer plenty to the quality spinners in both teams. It's dry and should become slow down as the match progresses. 170 could be a match-winning total. Win toss and bat first. Putting runs on the board in a final will matter

We are less than 10 minutes away from the flip of the coin. The Players are on the ground and are doing there final preps ahead of the game

Gujarat have been good like they were in the previous season. They had 3 wins in the first 5 games this season and picked much more wins thereafter. They have been boosted with the performances of Gill, Sudharsan, Shami, Rashid, among others and pose a challenge to the opposition.

CSk have made a brilliant comeback from their second last finish in IPL 2023 to a second placed-outing in the points table. They had poor run hit with captaincy exchanges, inexperienced bowling and an inconsitent batting. But they have ticked most of the boxes this year. The likes of Tushar Deshpande, Pathirana, Conway, Gaikwad, Dube and Rahane, all look in form. These players are a nemesis for anyone on their day.

These two have met each other thrice in IPL. Interestingly or rather surprisingly, CSK have never beaten GT. The last they met was the tournament opener in IPL 2023, which GT won by 5 wickets. Notably, this will the first clash between them in Chennai and also their first meet in knockouts.

The match will be telecasted live on Star Sports Network. You can go to JioCinema for catching the action online. India TV is here to bring all the latest updates, ball by ball commentary, match scorecard etc for you. 

GT squad:

Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Hardik Pandya (c), Shubman Gill, Dasun Shanaka, David Miller, Rahul Tewatia, Rashid Khan, Mohit Sharma, Noor Ahmad, Mohammed Shami, Yash Dayal, Vijay Shankar, Srikar Bharat, Shivam Mavi, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Abhinav Manohar, Odean Smith, Alzarri Joseph, Matthew Wade, Joshua Little, Darshan Nalkande, Urvil Patel, Sai Sudharsan, Jayant Yadav, Pradeep Sangwan

CSK squad:

MS Dhoni (c & wk), Ruturaj Gaikwad, Devon Conway, Ajinkya Rahane, Ambati Rayudu, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Maheesh Theekshana, Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed, Akash Singh, Sisanda Magala, Dwaine Pretorius, Ben Stokes, Ajay Jadav Mandal, Prashant Solanki, Simarjeet Singh, RS Hangargekar, Bhagath Varma, Nishant Sindhu

Hello and a warm welcome everyone. It's Playoffs time in IPL 2023. This is where everyone aims to reach in their bid to an IPL title. The IPL 2023 flight is now in the knockouts and we have our first stoppage at MS Dhoni's IPL home - The Chepauk. It's GT vs CSK, Hardik Pandya vs MS Dhoni or as being said - a student against his mentor. GT aiming for a title defence, while CSK looking for their 5th trophy. Winner goes into the finals. So sit back in your comfort as I Varun Malik, take you across this game.