Is CSK Qualified for Playoffs: How Can Chennai Super Kings Qualify Among Top Two Teams?

Having begun the recently concluded Indian Premier League 2023 Match 67 against Delhi Capitals at the Arun Jaitley Stadium as the second-ranked team on the points table, Chennai Super Kings have finished the contest at the same position. If truth be told, a clinical 77-run victory in their last league match of the season has increased their chances of finishing behind defending champions Gujarat Titans.

Captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (5*) winning the toss and opting to bat first resulted in his team posting a match-winning innings total of 223/3 in 20 overs on the board. Opening batters Ruturaj Gaikwad (79) and Devon Conway (87) scoring individual half-centuries in a 87-ball 141-run partnership for the first wicket paved way for a comprehensive win.

Had it not been for Delhi captain David Warner‘s 61st IPL half-century, the home team could’ve fared even worse than scoring 146/9 in 20 overs. Opening the batting with Prithvi Shaw (5), Warner scored 86 (58) with the help of seven fours and five sixes but only two other batters scoring in double digits rendered the skipper’s knock ineffective.

In what was his best outing of the season, Chennai pacer Deepak Chahar returned with figures of 4-0-22-3. In addition to Chahar, the Sri Lankan duo of Matheesha Pathirana and Maheesh Theekshana dismissed a couple of batters each.

Is CSK Qualified for Playoffs?

Yes. Super Kings, who won eight and lost five matches during IPL 2023 league phase, have provided a massive boost to their NRR (Net Run Rate). A numeric of 0.652 means that they now have the second-best NRR after Gujarat.

Facing Kolkata Knight Riders at the Eden Gardens, Lucknow Super Giants (0.304) will require a massive victory (even bigger than Super Kings’ last win) to outperform CSK as far as NRR is concerned. While a victory for Lucknow will equal them with Chennai, their NRR could see them finish as the third-ranked team.

As far as Dhoni and his men were concerned, they needed to win this match in order to be in contention for Top Two finish. The same will get finalized after the completion of IPL 2023 Match 68 tonight.

About the author

Dixit Bhargav

Born and brought up in Pathankot, Dixit Bhargav is an engineering and sports management graduate who works as a Cricket Editor at The SportsRush. Having written more than 10,000 articles across more than five years at TSR, his first cricketing memory dates back to 2002 when former India captain Sourav Ganguly had waved his jersey at the historic Lord’s balcony. What followed for an 8-year-old was an instant adulation for both Ganguly and the sport. The optimist in him is waiting for the day when Punjab Kings will win their maiden Indian Premier League title. When not watching cricket, he is mostly found in a cinema hall watching a Punjabi movie.

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