CSK vs GT, IPL Qualifier 1 Highlights: Chennai through to their 10th final, beat Titans by 15 runs

Today seems to be Gaikwad's day all the way. He tries a cut shot off the fifth b all of that same over, gets an inside edge and the ball goes behind for a four instead of crashing on to the stumps.

Second ball of the ninth over bowled by Mohit Sharma, Gaikwad slashes it behind point to the boundary and reaches his fifth in style. He delivers in the big match.

A delicate late cut from Gaikwad, not something you get to see to often in the muscle town that is T20 cricket. Rashid bowling the seventh, sends the fourth ball on a length outside leg. Gaikwad opens the face of the bat and lets it run past slip.

Gaikwad is on 33 off 26 and Conway is on 14 off 11. CSK have managed to survive the powerplay without losing a wicket, something that not many teams have managed to do against GT this season.

Length ball on off from Nalkande for the last ball of the fourth, Conway stays leg side and sends it through point. He gets to 10 off 8 with that shot, Gaikwad on 19 off 17.

Gaikwad comes across and leans into the good length ball, creams it through covers to the boundary.

14 runs off that over in the end. Gaikwad on 14 off 11 balls, Conway on 2 off 2. Shami comes back for his second.

The ball was fizzing and flying around like it's an overcast Day 1 of a Test match in England and Gaikwad and Conway somehow survive that.

"It was all Yellow" is what they said in case you didn't get that reference. There is no other colour visible in the stands of the Chepauk Stadium as the CSK faithful turn out in droves to support their team. It is the first hurdle they face in their hunt for a fifth IPL title. That would bring them level with Mumbai Indians as the most succesfull team in the history of the IPL.

“More than runs it's the preparation going into a tournament. That was very good, and it was injury-free unlike last time. The nature of T20 is everytime you can't be consistent. But the idea is to keep our process the same. Assessing the pitch and deciding our approach is important. This time my approach has been to play expressive cricket. Earlier I used to take my time for 10-odd balls. A lot depends on situation and pitch as well. Left-right combo is important. Opposition tactics change because of that. Like bowling an off-spinner or a left-arm spinner. Devon was playing fast bowlers well, but he's also played spin very well throughout the season.”

68m on one side and 63m on the other square boundary, the straight boundary is at 78m. Spinners would be licking their lips in the dressing room. It's dry and will definitely turn. There are patches which will offer plenty to the quality spinners in both sides. It's dry and should become slow as the match progresses. 170 could be a match-winning total. Bat first, runs on the board in a final will matter, reckons Matthew Hayden, in his pitch report

“We wanted to bowl first, reason being they're an excellent chasing side. We've exploited the conditions slightly better, in a tournament like this, the boys have adapted really well. It's important to back your straengths, 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 in the last game, but with breeze around, we can't say about it tonight, but it does look dry. We're playing the same team”

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

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

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

Hardik Pandya has won the toss and Gujarat Titans will bowl first.

Two international superstars are absent today largely due to fitness issues of different kinds. The kind of hype that came with the prospect of Ben Stokes teaming up with Ravindra Jadeja, two of the best all-rounders in the world, and of course, MS Dhoni. But he ended being able to play just two matches all season, scoring just a paltry 15 runs and bowled two overs for no wickets. His knee injury kept him out of regular action and he had said before the start of the season itself that he would leave before the playoffs to captain England in their one-off Test against Ireland before the Ashes. Meanwhile Kane Williamson limped off after a truly exceptional fielding effort at the ropes in GT's first match of the season against CSK. This came just as the former New Zealand seemed to have put his long standing injury troubles behind and had hit a purple patch in Test cricket. It now seems like Williamson will miss the World Cup but will be with New Zealand as a mentor.

Chahar's battle with Gill will be a key indicator of where the match goes today. Gill comes into the match on the back of consecutive centuries while Chahar seems to have rediscovered his mojo in the powerplay. Chahar has dismissed Gill twice in the powerplay but that was before the latter's recent renaissance.

Hardik Pandya's international career started under MS Dhoni's captaincy and there is no doubt that he is among a generation of Indian cricketers, which includes the likes of Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma, who have been inspired by the 2011 World Cup winning former India skipper. As captain of Gujarat Titans, Pandya has shown a number of traits in his leadership that is typically associated with how Dhoni leads CSK. He has backed misfiring seniors to the point that David Miller, Wriddhiman Saha and Vijay Shankar have all experienced some of their most productive seasons in their careers with the Titans. He has ensured that Gill transfers his excellent international form to the IPL, despite the fact most of the young opener's exploits for India have been in ODIs and Tests and he only made his T20I debut just before the start of the tournament. Noor Ahmad has been a revelation and it is pretty clear that Pandya is leaning heavily on Rashid Khan to get the best out of him, thus showing how well he is able to use his resources in different ways.

Not many teams get to say that they have an unbeaten record against the mighty CSK but that is exactly what GT boast of. The two sides have faced each other three times in three different venues and all three have been successful run chases for Pandya's side.

RCB captain Faf du Plessis currently holds the Orange Cap with 730 runs in 14 matches at a strike rate of 153.68 and average of 56.15. But RCB's race has been run and Gill has at least one more match left to play. Gill is exactly 50 runs behind Du Plessis at the moment and considering the kind of form he is in, he could overtake the former South Africa captain today.