Chennai Super Kings vs Gujarat Titans Prediction: Teams met in the finals last year

Chennai Super Kings and Gujarat Titans are going head to head in the Match 7 of the Indian Premier League at M. A. Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai, India on 26th March 2024. Teams met in the finals last year. Who will win this game of cricket?

Newly appointed captain Ruturaj Gaikwad has shown a preference for facing Gujarat Titans, with four scores of 50+ and a total of over 300 runs to his name. Among the Chennai Super Kings batsmen, no one has been able to match Gaikwad's level of consistency. For instance, Ambati Rayudu's 94 and Devon Conway's 93 are the next highest scores against Gujarat, but both players will not be featuring in the upcoming match. Shivam Dube has scored 71 runs in 5 innings against Gujarat and will be looking to improve his average and strike rate in the upcoming fixture. 

CSK has never been able to surpass a score of 180 against Gujarat and they will aim to change that in the upcoming match. However, for this to happen, CSK's batsmen will need to support and bat around Gaikwad. On the bowling front, Matheesha Pathirana has been the most successful bowler for CSK against Gujarat Titans, picking up 6 wickets in 3 games, followed by Ravindra Jadeja with 4 wickets in 4 games and Maheesh Theekshana with 4 wickets in 3 games. The team will likely stick to their strategy of using spinners to control the Gujarat Titans' batting lineup on a dry and slow pitch.

The form of Deepak Chahar, who has taken 3 wickets in 3 games against Gujarat, will also be a concern for the hosts.

Rachin Ravindra, Ruturaj Gaikwad (c), Daryl Mitchell, Ajinkya Rahane, Shivam Dube, MS Dhoni (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Sameer Rizvi, Deepak Chahar, Tushar Deshpande, Mustafizur Rahman.

Four batsmen from the Gujarat Giants squad, specifically openers Shubman Gill and Wriddhiman Saha, one-drop player Sai Sudharsan, and middle-order batsman David Miller, all managed to score at least 100 runs each against CSK. They demonstrated strong teamwork compared to their counterparts from the South. However, they struggled against Mumbai Indians' fast bowlers, Bumrah and Coetzee, who took 5/41 from their 8 overs. The lack of consistently fast-medium pacers in the CSK squad may work in favor of the Gujarat Giants' batters.

On the bowling side, Gujarat Giants' bowlers staged a remarkable comeback against MI. Sai Kishore and Rashid Khan slowed down the scoring rate, putting pressure on the opposition in the death overs. Azmatullah Omarzai and Spencer Johnson also made valuable contributions, with Sharma's knowledge of the Chennai surface proving to be advantageous. His performance against MI will boost his confidence for upcoming matches.

Shubman Gill (c), Wriddhiman Saha (wk), Sai Sudharsan, Vijay Shankar, David Miller, Azmatullah Omarzai, Rashid Khan, Sai Kishore, Noor Ahmad/Spencer Johnson, Umesh Yadav, Mohit Sharma.

In their brief history in the IPL, Gujarat Titans have shown success against CSK. With a strong batting lineup and a diverse bowling attack that includes Noor Ahmad as a potential third spinner, we believe Gujarat Titans will emerge victorious in a tightly contested match. Our forecast is for Gujarat Titans to come out on top in this competition.