Since the game is at Chepauk it will be advantage Chennai. In addition to that, Hardik Pandya’s men have not played a game this season at this venue. The only time these two sides met in this year’s campaign was at Ahmedabad in the opener of the season and the Titans dominated Super Kings and beat them convincingly by five wickets.

However, there has been a lot that has changed throughout the season since then and both sides have had their fair share of ups and downs.

Here’s where the game may turn in this high-octane contest.

Shami’s new ball burst

One of the greatest strengths of the Chennai Super Kings over the years has been their successful opening combinations. It has been the same case with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Devon Conway this year. The duo combined has scored 688 runs at an average of 52.92 this season and has been striking at 8.89 per over.

Gujarat Titans’ Mohammed Shami celebrates the dismissal of Delhi Capitals’ Priyam Garg during the Indian Premier League cricket match between Gujarat Titans and Delhi Capitals in Ahmedabad, India, Tuesday, May 2, 2023. (AP Photo/Ajit Solanki)

However, Mohammed Shami on the other hand has been one of the lethal new ball bowlers in this year’s tournament. Out of his 24 wickets, he has picked up 15 in the Powerplay pushing the opposition onto the back foot. His spell against Delhi Capitals and Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier this season at Ahmedabad was reminiscent of Test match bowling.

Though Shami has been terrific with the new ball much of his success has come in home conditions where the ball early on helped the seamers. The conditions in Chennai would be quite contrary to what Shami has been accustomed to. It may give the CSK openers a bit of an advantage going into the game.

GT’s firepower vs CSK’s death bowling

Iceman Rahul Tewatia, South Africa’s brutal striker David Miller and Rashid Khan have become one of the potent finishing trio in the league for the last couple of seasons. Out of the eight times Titans’ have chased, they won six. They have been experts in closing games down and also setting up scores.

Bengaluru: Chennai Super Kings bowler Matheesha Pathirana celebrates after taking the wicket of Royal Challengers Bangalore batter Shahbaz Ahmed during the IPL 2023 cricket match between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, at M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, Monday, April 17, 2023. (PTI Photo/Shailendra Bhojak)(PTI04_17_2023_000372B)

The Titans have been scoring at 12.02 at the death on the other hand MS Dhoni’s side has been one the best death bowling team in the tournament so far going at 9.72. Matheesha Pathirana’s rise this season has helped the yellow army to compensate for their bowling woes. The Sri Lankan has been lethal with his yorkers at the death and his action reminiscent of legendary Lasith Malinga has been hard to pick for the batters. In addition to Pathirana, Tushar Deshpande despite going for runs has had a knack of picking wickets regularly.

GT similar to Dhoni’s playbook likes to take things deep and feast upon the mistakes made by the bowlers however, this backfired early in the season against Delhi Capitals when Titans were chasing a low 131 and fell short by five runs abiding by a similar method. The way CSK has been bowling at death it might be ideal to start taking on the bowlers sooner rather than later.

The spin twins of Gujarat Titans

Noor Ahmed and Rashid Khan have formed a formidable pairing in the middle overs this season for the Titans. The pairing as a combination has picked up 37 wickets in the season. After facing the fiery spell of Shami in the Powerplay facing these leggies has been a thorn in the flesh to any opposition throughout the season.

GT has been going at an economy rate of 8 in the middle overs whilst Super Kings have been scoring at 8.50. CSK has been heavily reliant on doing the bulk of the scoring by the openers. The likes of Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, Moeen Ali and Ravindra Jadeja have played cameos at different points in the season however, nothing substantial on a consistent basis. In addition to that this would be arguably one of the tricky spin combinations they would have faced in the tournament.

On a wicket which assists tweakers, CSK needs to get a good start against the Titans’ new ball bowlers. A couple of early wickets in the powerplay may leave the four-time champions in a bit of a pickle.