The MS Dhoni-led Chennai Super Kings (CSK) booked their place in the IPL 2023 final as they defeated Gujarat Titans (GT) on May 23, Tuesday in Qualifier 1 by 15 runs in Chennai.

CSK were asked to bat first by Hardik Pandya who had won the toss. Thanks to Ruturaj Gaikwad (60) and Devon Conway (40) and their 87-run opening partnership, with 22 from Ravindra Jadeja, CSK posted 172/7 in 20 overs.

In response, with only Shubman Gill (46) and Rashid Khan’s 30 in 16 balls, GT could conjure up only 157 runs, to lose Qualifier 1 by 15 runs.

For CSK, Deepak Chahar, Matheesha Pathirana, Maheesh Theekshana, and Ravindra Jadeja picked two wickets each. Jadeja also went past the 150-wicket mark in IPL in this match. 

Now, CSK will fly to Ahmedabad for the IPL 2023 final on May 28th. GT, on the other hand, will also take the flight for Qualifier 2, where they will face the winner of the Eliminator match between Lucknow Super Giants and Mumbai Indians, which will be played in Chennai on May 24.  

However the match wasn’t without its moments and after the 15^th over ended, there was a considerable delay in play as cameras caught MS Dhoni in an argument with the two on-field umpires, Anil Chaudhary and Chris Gaffaney.

This led to a 5-minute delay in the start of the 16^th over.

IPL 2023: Cricket fraternity reacts as MS Dhoni’s CSK defeats GT by 15 runs; to play in their 10th IPL final

The reason for the delay and the Dhoni-umpires’ argument was the officials not allowing Matheesha Pathirana to bowl his 2^nd over as the Sri Lankan fast bowler had not completed the stipulated time on the field after taking a break to be eligible for bowling again.

Pathirana had taken a 9-minute break after his first over and he hadn't spent that amount of time on the field after returning to be allowed to resume bowling.

The discussion between MS Dhoni and the two on-field umpires irked on-air commentators, including Sunil Gavaskar and Simon Doull.

"That 5-minute argument with the umpires, he has was unnecessary. All he did was stall and stall the game instead of letting another bowler bowl. He might come to regret that at the end of the match," Simon Doull said on air on Star Sports.

As per reports. MS Dhoni seemingly told the umpires that he would wait out the time remaining for Pathirana to be eligible for bowling again instead of giving another bowler the over. This meant that play was held up for 5 minutes before it resumed and Pathirana was allowed to bowl the 16th over of the chase.

(India Today inputs)