Chennai Super Kings (CSK) have done it. It has been a fairytale season and it rightfully ends with some silverware. Mahendra Singh Dhoni's men had a torrid time in the UAE last year as it was their worst season missing out on the qualification spot for the first time in the history of the Indian Premier League (IPL).
It felt like CSK will make wholesale changes in the auction. They did make some changes and the most important one was the inclusion of England all-rounder Moeen Ali. Moeen slotting in at No 3, Ruturaj Gaikwad continuing on his form from the last three games in 2020 season, Faf du Plessis, as solid as always, umpteen all-rounders and a Shardul Thakur with a purple patch and it started falling into place for the men in yellow.
They won nine games in the league stage but were coming off from three straight losses into the playoffs, however, they have been the masters of knockout having played over 11 seasons of the IPL and they showed why they stuck with the core and that experience matters in crunch moments.
CSK were put in to bat by KKR skipper Eoin Morgan on a good Dubai surface and Faf du Plessis took his time initially as Gaikwad took the aggressor's role but once he was in his rhythm, he was seeing the ball like a football and started playing his shots on a surface where it was coming on nicely.
Gaikwad got out but Robin Uthappa continued from where he left off in the last game against Delhi Capitals (DC) as they never let the run rate go down. Du Plessis achieved his 22nd fifty in the IPL and was set and just kept taking on KKR bowlers. Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali provided the impetus in the middle-over with fast and fantastic cameos and let du Plessis play his game.
Uthappa smashed 31 runs off 15 balls, Moeen Ali remained unbeaten on 37 off 20 balls as du Plessis scored 86 runs off 59 balls to help CSK post a mammoth total of 192 runs.
KKR had to have a good start to try and chase down the total. They had their share of luck as MS Dhoni dropped Venkatesh Iyer when he was playing on 0 and he then went on to slam a fifty, his fourth of the season, in 10 games made CSK pay for their skipper's mistake.
However, there was 'Lord' Shardul Thakur to save the day. He dismissed Iyer and Nitish Rana in one over and KKR collapsed. Ravindra Jadeja too had some fun and scalped out Dinesh Karthik and Shakib Al Hasan in the same over and it was formalities afterward.
Shardul Thakur in his last over, did leak some runs but CSK were way ahead and notched up their fourth title in the IPL. It was a heartbreak for Kolkata Knight Riders, who stumbled at the final hurdle as they won seven games out of the nine they played before Friday in the second half.
