CSK's road to IPL 2023 Final: Every game a home game, Chennai reign supreme

Danny Morrison, famous commentator and former New Zealand fast bowler, during a toss asked MS Dhoni if it was his swansong, to this MS’s reply, “It is what you guys think. I have not decided yet.” Later on in the season, he would go on and say, “There is a gap of 7-9 months for me to think and decide (about playing the next season).” 

To keep them guessing is Dhoni’s game. However, this season was all about him and every day on the ground or outside, simply wanted to get a view of him. The audience in the stadium waited for hours post the match to see him talk to youngsters. However, the captain did not put himself ahead of the team and always batted lower down the order, giving batters better than him a chance to score runs. 

As a combined result of the fan’s love, an astute leader and his brilliant changes from behind the wicket have now resulted in the team reaching its 10th final in 14 seasons. Here’s how their road to the finale has been

A loss against Gujarat Titans in the first game

In the first match of the season, the defending champions Gujarat Titans easily went past the Super Kings, chasing down 179 with five wickets remaining. Shubman Gill scored 63 runs while Rashid Khan took 2/26 and scored 10 in three balls to put Ruturaj Gaikwad’s 92 in vain. 

Great homecoming against Lucknow 

After losing to Gujarat away, it was the first time in four years that MS Dhoni and his team were back at their home of Chepauk amongst their fans. They scored heavily and reached 217 in their 20 overs. Lucknow brilliantly started the chase but Moeen Ali’s four-wicket haul ended all their hopes and Chennai won by 12 runs eventually.

Riding on victory, Chennai beat Mumbai too

After the win against LSG, CSK travelled to Wankhede Stadium and beat the Mumbai Indians too. Ajinkya Rahane, who was playing the first match of the season, scored a brilliant 61 off just 27 balls as Chennai chased down 158 with 11 balls to spare. Earlier in the game, Ravindra Jadeja took 3/20 as well. 

Sandeep Sharma’s brilliant last over gets the Royals over the line

After back-to-back victories, Chennai were back at Chepauk again. They were playing the Rajasthan Royals and needed 176 to win the match. However, they were six down for 113 when MS Dhoni walked and partnered with Ravindra Jadeja. CSK needed 63 in the last 30 balls. Two overs post the 15th resulted in only nine runs. 

Now, 54 were needed in the last three overs. MS Dhoni hit 25 in seven balls and it came down to 7 needed from 4 balls. Sandeep Sharma, who had conceded 14 in his first three balls, defending 22 in the last over, bowled brilliant yorkers in the last three, conceding only three runs and making sure that Rajasthan won the game by three runs. 

Pathirana, Conway do it for Chennai at Chinnaswamy

M Chinnaswamy is a high-scoring ground and Chennai Super Kings, before going there, knew about it. They scored 226 in their 20 overs courtesy of a brilliant 83 from Devon Conway. RCB brilliantly started the chase and reached 141 in only 12 overs with Glenn Maxwell and Faf du Plessis at the crease. Needing only 85 in the last eight overs, Bangalore looked like firm favourites before Pathirana bowled three back-to-back brilliant overs, picking two wickets and conceding only 24 runs in them. 

Easy wins against KKR and Hyderabad

After the victory in Bengaluru, Chennai collected easy wins against Sunrisers Hyderabad and Kolkata Knight Riders, beating them by seven wickets and 49 runs respectively. These two wins put them on the top of the table with five wins in seven games. 

Back-to-back losses put Super Kings under pressure

Just when they were on the top, CSK were beaten by RR away from home and then by Punjab Kings at home when Sikandar Raza won it for the visitors in the last over. Right after these back-to-back losses, a game against Lucknow got washed out and the Super Kings were suddenly under pressure with just 11 points from 10 games.  

Two wins and a loss and still Chennai remained under pressure 

Mumbai, Delhi and Kolkata travelled to Chepuak as the MS Dhoni-led side played three successive games at home. They had easy wins against Mumbai and Delhi, but Kolkata’s Rinku Singh and Nitish Rana made sure that the Super Kings would have to enter the last game in a must-win situation. KKR beat CSK by six wickets. 

Super Kings win the last game to advance to playoffs

No game was an away game for Dhoni’s team and as a result, when they reached the Arun Jaitley Stadium in Delhi, a sea of yellow welcomed them. They needed to win the game by a big margin to reach the playoffs without depending on the results of other games. They did so comprehensively by winning the last game by 77 runs. 

A superlative win for Super Kings to enter the 10th final

Finishing in the second position courtesy of Mumbai not being able to win both their games, Chennai marched into the qualifier as favourites because of the home advantage against the defending champions Gujarat Titans. Hosts, after being asked to bat first, could reach 172 only. Against a strong batting lineup of Gujarat, it did not look like a safe target. 

But Chennai were determined on winning and they did not leak the runs at all, building a lot of pressure on the Titans’ batters. Eventually, the visitors were seven down for 136 and the match seemed all over before Rashid Khan tried to revive it. In the end, it was too much to do in too little time. Chennai registered a 15-run victory and marched into the final.