IPL 2023 Qualifier 1: Gujarat Titans v Chennai Super Kings Best Bets

The 2023 IPL playoffs get underway on Thursday with a huge encounter between Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans at the MA Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. This will be a battle between the top two sides on the standings, with the winner advancing to Sunday’s final. Lwanele Poswayo has prepared his best bets for Qualifier 1.

Betting Preview

Chennai Super Kings will be pleased that they’ll be playing this game at home despite finishing behind GT. They have won 4 out of their 7 games on home soil this season. Gujarat will not be too disheartened by playing away from home as they’ve won 6 of the 7 away games this season.

GT are the slight favourites for this game and there’s value on them at 1.86. Shubman Gill is the man for them at the moment, averaging 56,67 with a strike rate of 152.47. He has also scored centuries in each of his last two innings (104*, 101 and 94*). No other player for the Titans has scored more than 290 runs in this campaign, which really highlights how important Gill’s 680 have been. He’s at 3.25 to be GT’s top batter and 2.75 to score 50+ runs.

Another opener in red-hot for is CSK’s Devon Conway, who’s scored 585 runs in 14 matches. His partnership with Ruturaj Gaikwad has been crucial to CSK’s success this season. Alongside RCB, CSK are the only other team to have two batters in the top 10 run scorers with Conway hitting six half-centuries including 87 from 52 on Sunday.

In the bowling department, Deepak Chahar was the standout bowler in Delhi as he took 3/22. He is in fine form and has taken 10 wickets from his last four games including three dismissals in each of his last two matches.

This will be CSK’s home record vs GT’s away form which makes this a difficult game to call. My money is on the form side Gujarat Titatans, back them to win at 1.86.

Key Stats

Chennai recorded the highest opening partnership in ten games this season, including six of the seven at home.

They also struck the most sixes ten times, whilst Gujarat did so only four times.

Gujarat took the most wickets (7.43 per innings) at the best economy rate (8.39rpo) during the league stage.

Ravindra Jadeja to Wriddhiman Saha in the IPL: 2-29 from 31 balls.

Rashid Khan to Ruturaj Gaikwad in the IPL: 2-66 from 45 balls.

Moeen Ali scores at 9.08rpo against the bowling of Rashid Khan in the IPL, but has been dismissed four times in 6.1 overs.

Shubman Gill has finished as Gujarat Titans’ highest run scorer six times this season.

A Chennai bowler returned the best figures (wickets followed by economy rate) in ten of their 14 matches this season.

In each of his six IPL appearances at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Rashid Khan has bowled his full allocation of four overs and has gone wicketless only once.

Best Bets

Prediction: Gujarat Titans to win at 1.86.

Suggested Bet: Chennai Super Kings to score the most runs in the first 6 overs at 1.80.

Value Bet: Shubman Gill to score 50+ runs at 2.75.