Chennai Super Kings become second team to qualify for IPL 2023 playoffs

New Delhi [India], May 20 : The four-time champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) continued their dominating campaign this season too as they became the second team to qualify for Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023 playoffs after clinching a 77-run victory over Delhi Capitals on Saturday.
Chennai Super Kings cruised into the playoffs as they beat Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi. CSK dominated a dismal Delhi to qualify for the playoffs and gave themselves the best shot at the second spot. CSK ended their 14-match league campaign with 17 points.
The CSK openers Ruturaj Gaikwad (79 off 50) and Devon Conway (87 off 52) set the stage on fire to lay the platform with a 141-run stand. Shivam Dube(22 off 9) and Ravindra Jadeja(20* off 7) then provided the final acceleration with impactful cameos as CSK posted a mammoth 223/3.
Deepak Chahar then shone with a ball with an excellent spell of 3/22 as a combined bowling effort saw CSK restrict DC to 146/9 despite a brave effort from David Warner who fought the lone battle with a brilliant knock of 86(58).
Coming to the match, David Warner's fighting knock of 86 runs went in vain as Deepak Chahar and Maheesh Theekshana's fiery spells helped Chennai Super Kings (CSK) claim a 77-run win over Delhi Capitals to qualify for playoffs in the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2023.
Defending a target of 223, CSK bowlers gave their team an explosive start as the opening bowling pair breathed fire to dismantle DC's innings early in the game. Tushar Deshpande drew first blood in the second over of the game. Deshpande dismissed Prithvi Shaw for 5.
Deepak Chahar then gave Delhi back-to-back two blows as he dismissed opener Philip Salt (3) and left-handed batter Rilee Rossouw for a duck.
DC captain David Warner, however, kept the scoreboard ticking for his team as he kept piling boundaries at regular intervals. Warner then brought up his crucial 50 in just 32 balls.
Experienced all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja then brought CSK back into the game as he dismissed Yash Dhull for 13.
The left-handed batter Axar Patel then came out to bat. Warner then opened his hands and smoked seasoned all-rounder Jadeja for 23 runs with the help of four maximums and one boundary.
In the 14th over of the game, Deepak then again gave DC another blow as he dismissed Axar for 15 runs, leaving Delhi tottering at 109-5.
The right-handed batter Aman Hakim Khan then came out to bat. After 15 overs, Delhi needed 108 runs in 30 balls. Deshpande bagged his second wicket of the match as he removed Aman Hakim Khan for 7.
In the 19th over of the game, Warner's fighting knock came to an end as he was removed by Matheesha Pathirana after scoring 86 runs.
In the last over, Maheesh Theekshana bagged back-to-back two wickets of Lalit Yadav and Kuldeep Yadav to help his team clinch a 77-run victory over Delhi Capitals.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat. The away side went with an unchanged starting XI. They named Matheesha Pathirana, Mitchell Santner, Subhranshu Senapati, Shaik Rasheed and Akash Singh as their substitutes.
Delhi Capitals made two changes to the starting eleven as Lalit Yadav and Chetan Sakariya replaced Prithvi Shaw and Ishant Sharma. Mukesh Kumar, Prihvi Shaw, Pravin Dubey, Ripal Patel and Abishek Porel made it to the home side's substitutes list.
CSK got off to a brisk start courtesy some beautiful shots from Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway. Gaikwad opened his boundary account in the first over with a silken flick off Khaleel Ahmed. He then smacked one over deep mid-wicket off Lalit Yadav in the next over for another four. Devon Conway then brought up the 1000th six of IPL 2023 as he cracked one straight down the ground for a six in the same over to make it 13 off it.
Conway then hit a couple of well-placed fours over mid-wicket and backward point off Khaleel. Gaikwad took on Axar and hit a lovely lofted six over extra cover. Conway then brought up the 50-run stand with back to back fours off Anrich Nortje in the 5th over.
Chetan Sakariya then came into the attack and bowled a frugal over, the first one without a boundary, giving away just two singles as CSL reached 52/0 at the end of the Powerplay.
The pair mixed it up really well as they kept rotating the strike along with hitting the odd boundary. Ruturaj then stepped on the accelerator as he smashed a couple of sixes over deep mid-wicket off Axar and then took a single to bring up his fifty off 37 balls as CSK accumulated 15 off the over and moved to 87/0 at the halfway mark.
While Conway dealt in fours, Ruturaj continued to hit sixes as he lofted one straight down the ground off Kuldeep and then thumped one over deep mid-wicket off the next ball for consecutive sixes. He then went berserk against Kuldeep and smashed three sixes in a row, all straight down the ground to make it 20 off the over. He added another to his sixes tally as he pulled one over the fine leg off Nortje.
Conway brought up his fifty, off 33 balls as he whipped one over deep mid-wicket off Khaleel for another six. Sakariya came back and finally broke the marathon 141-run stand as he had Ruturaj (79 off 50) caught at deep mid-wicket off a short ball in the 15th over.
Conway and Shivam Dube continued the momentum with aggressive strokeplay as they took 19 off the Lalit Yadav over and then 12 off Nortje over. Dube then cracked consecutive sixes off Khaleel to bring up the 50-run standoff just 21 balls. Khaleel though bounced back to have Dube caught at long-on, off the last ball as MS Dhoni walked out to the crease to a rousing reception.
CSK lost another wicket in the next over as Nortje had Conway (87 off 52) caught at long-on. Ravindra Jadej arrived and set off straight away with a six and a four off Nortje. He finished off in style with a couple of swiped fours as Dhoni and Jadeja took 16 runs off the last over to finish on 223/3. CSK scored 75/2 off the last five overs.
Jadeja remained unbeaten on 20 off 7 balls while Dhoni remained not out on 5 off 4 balls.
Delhi Capitals introduced Prithvi Shaw as their Impact Player, replacing Khaleel while CSK introduced Matheesha Pathirana as their Impact Player, in place of Shivam Dube, at the start of the second innings.