Mohammed Shami vs CSK openers and GT finishers vs CSK death bowlers, the interesting matchups in qualifier-1

Defenders of the title In Qualifier 1, Gujarat Titans will compete against the four-time champion Chennai Super Kings. As a result of their convincing victories in their final league games, both teams entered the game with momentum on their side and appeared to be favoured to win the IPL 2023 season.

Chennai will benefit because the game is being played in Chepauk. Additionally, Hardik Pandya’s team hasn’t played a game at this location yet this season. The only time these two teams faced off this season was in the season opener in Ahmedabad, where the Titans crushed the Super Kings and easily defeated them by five wickets.

However, there has been a lot that has changed throughout the season since then and both sides have had their fair share of ups and downs.

Here’s where the game may turn in this high-octane contest.

Shami’s new ball burst

The Chennai Super Kings‘ outstanding opening combinations have always been one of their biggest strengths. This year, Devon Conway and Ruturaj Gaikwad both experienced the same thing. Together, the pair has scored 688 runs this season, averaging 52.92, and striking out 8.89 times per over.

Mohammed Shami, on the other hand, has been one of the tournament’s most devastating new ball bowlers this year. He has taken 24 wickets overall, 15 of which came in the Powerplay, putting the opposition on the back foot. His bowling performance in Ahmedabad earlier this season against Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad was reminiscent of Test match bowling.

Despite having great success with the new ball, Shami has had the majority of his success at home, where the ball initially favoured the seamers. The surroundings in Chennai will be very dissimilar from what Shami is used to. It might give the CSK openers a slight advantage when the game begins.

GT’s firepower vs CSK’s death bowling

Rashid Khan, David Miller, a vicious striker from South Africa, and Iceman Rahul Tewatia have developed into one of the league’s most effective trios for finishing over the past few seasons. Titans have chased eight times, winning six of them games. They were skilled at settling games and establishing scores.

While MS Dhoni’s team has been one of the top death bowling teams in the league thus far, the Titans have been scoring at a rate of 12.02 at the death. The ascension of Matheesha Pathirana this year has enabled the yellow army to make up for their poor bowling performance. It has been difficult for batters to choose the Sri Lankan pitcher because of his devastating yorkers at the end of games and his action, which is reminiscent of the great Lasith Malinga. Along with Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande has a tendency for routinely collecting wickets despite going for runs.

GT similar to Dhoni’s playbook likes to take things deep and feast upon the mistakes made by the bowlers however, this backfired early in the season against Delhi Capitals when Titans were chasing a low 131 and fell short by five runs abiding by a similar method. The way CSK has been bowling at death it might be ideal to start taking on the bowlers sooner rather than later.

The spin twins of Gujarat Titans

This season, the Titans’ middle overs have been dominated by Noor Ahmed and Rashid Khan. Together, the partnership has taken 37 wickets this season. Throughout the season, confronting these leggies has been a pain in the flesh for any opposition after facing the hot period of Shami in the Powerplay.

While Super Kings have been scoring at an 8.50 rate, GT has been batting at an economy rate of 8. The openers have been responsible for the majority of CSK’s scoring. Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali, and Ravindra Jadeja have all made cameo appearances throughout the season, but nothing significant or regular. Additionally, this would undoubtedly rank among the trickiest spin combinations they would have encountered during the competition.

CSK must establish a strong lead against the Titans’ new ball bowlers on a track that favours tweakers. The four-time champions could find themselves in a bit of a bind if they lose a few early wickets in the powerplay.