Chennai Super Kings Enters Final After Beating Delhi Capitals, Dhoni Finishes The Match In Style!

Indian Premier League 2021: Chennai Super Kings Enters Final After Beating Delhi Capitals, Dhoni Finishes The Match In Style!

Age is just a number. Yes! That’s right. We are used to seeing MS Dhoni finishing a match with a six or four and that’s what happened in the match yesterday against Delhi Capitals. MS Dhoni-led Chennai has entered into another final of the Indian Premier League after beating Delhi Capitals by 4 wickets. MS Dhoni finished the match in his style by hitting a four in the last ball. 

The first match of the playoffs that is the qualifier was played between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings in Dubai International Stadium. Chennai won an important toss and asked Delhi to bat first. The table-toppers Delhi started well. 

Prithvi Shaw started smashing the balls from the one end. He was taking charge of bowlers and took full advantage of the field restrictions. Though on the other end, Shikhar Dhawan was struggling and finally got out. Josh Hazelwood was the man to send him back. 

Shaw was in on mood to show mercy to any bowler. His fours and sixes were increasing the tension of CSK. But he was not getting support from the opposite end. After Dhawan, the new man Shreyas Iyer struggled too and got out finally. Again, it was Josh Hazelwood who got his wicket. New man Axar Patel couldn’t fulfill his role well. He was sent earlier than skipper Rishabh Pant to hit biggies. 

Dhoni knew the plan behind sending Patel. He placed off-spinner Moeen Ali in front of left-hander Patel and grabbed his wicket. In the next over, Ravindra Jadeja got the huge wicket of the night. He sent Prithvi Shaw who was looking dangerous. Shaw scored 60 in just 34 balls. He hit 7 fours and 3 sixes. 

At the end of 11 overs, DC was at 81 for 4. Looking at the team in trouble Skipper Pant took the charge in his hand. He got support from West Indian powerhouse, Shimron Hetmyer. They both made a fabulous partnership of 83 runs for the 5th wicket. Pant played a captain’s knock of 51 runs on 35 balls. In his inning, he hit 3 fours and 2 biggies. 

Shimron also made 37 with 3 fours and 1 six in it. Capitals ended with 172 runs on the board in 20 overs. From Chennai Super Kings, Josh Hazelwood scappled 2 wickets. Jadeja, Ali, and Dwayne Bravo got 1-1 wickets each. 

Chennai didn’t start well. Anrich Nortje bowled Faf Du Plessis in the first over to give CSK their first breakthrough. But after that, in-form Ruturaj Gayakwad and Robin Uthappa put a strong partnership for the 2nd wicket. In the end, this partnership proved to be a match-defining partnership. They both added 110 runs together and took CSK to a commanding position. 

English All-rounder Tom Curran got the wicket of Robin in the 14th over. Uthappa made 63 runs on 44 balls with 7 fours and 2 sixes. In the same over he sent promoted man Shardul Thakur back to the dugout. Ambati Rayudu fell early from run-out after a brilliant fielding from Shreyas Iyer. This wicket brought the balance in the match again. At this stage, CSK was 119 for 4 in 15 overs. They still needed 54 runs in 5 overs. 

Gayakwad on the one end completed his half-century. In the 19th over, Avesh Khan got Ruturaj’s wicket. This brought MS Dhoni to the crease. In the last over CSK needed 13 runs. Dhoni who had already a hit in the last over was on the strike. He started with a four. Poor display of captaincy from the Delhi was shown as the last over was given to Tom Curran even after having the over of Kagiso Rabada. 

Dhoni hit another four and turned the match. In the last ball, he hit the final boundary to finish the match in a style we are used to seeing. With this Chennai Super Kings has become the first finalist. On the other hand, Delhi will get another chance to play in the finals. 

This is how Twitter reacted to MS Dhoni finishing the match, 

Indian Skipper Virat Kohli wrote, 

Anddddd the king is back ❤️the greatest finisher ever in the game. Made me jump Outta my seat once again tonight.@msdhoni

— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) October 10, 2021

Former legendary cricketer Ian Bishop wrote, 

MS Dhoni is the greatest @ChennaiIPL never bet against him. See you in the final he says👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻.

— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) October 10, 2021

Delhi will face the winner of eliminator 1. Eliminator 1 will be played today between Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders in Sharjah. The winner will face Delhi Capitals in eliminator 2. The winner of Eliminator 2 will finally face CSK in the final stage. Hold on to your nerves to see some nail-biting matches.