Chennai Super Kings entered their sixth IPL final in eight attempts, withstanding and overcoming Royal Challengers’ fightback on a slow pitch. Super Kings seemed to have the game in control from the moment Ashish Nehra took out Virat Kohli and AB de Villiers in the fifth over. But Royal Challengers scrapped their way through to set a fighting target of 140. Their bowlers kept the Super Kings top order quiet in the first half of the chase, and the wickets came in the second. MS Dhoni hung in but fell after levelling the scores. R Ashwin nudged a single off the penultimate ball to seal the win.
Both captains had their wish fulfilled at the toss. Dew in mind, Dhoni wanted to chase. Knockout pressure and a dry pitch in mind, Kohli wanted runs on the board.
With R Ashwin turning and bouncing the ball right away, the Royal Challengers openers targeted Nehra. Kohli pulled and lofted him for a four and a six after which Nehra asked Dhoni to stand up to the stumps. First ball of Nehra’s next over, Kohli stayed on the crease and tucked one straight to backward square leg.
Two balls later, Chris Gayle survived a close leg-before shout. Three balls later, de Villiers was not so lucky, given leg-before with replays showing the ball to have pitched just outside leg stump.
Ashwin removed Mandeep Singh soon, and Royal Challengers were limping at 36 for 3 in the eighth over.
Gayle bided his time, waiting for Dhoni to bring on his two left-arm spinners so he could attack them. Dhoni brought them on only after Gayle fell in the 14th over for 41 off 43.
Royal Challengers Bangalore
CH Gayle c & b Raina 41
V Kohli c Sharma b Nehra 12
AB de Villiers lbw b Nehra 1
Mandeep Singh c Hussey b Ashwin 4
KD Karthik† c Sharma b Nehra 28
SN Khan c Negi b Bravo 31
D Wiese c Bravo b Sharma 12
HV Patel run out (†Dhoni) 2
MA Starc not out 1
S Aravind not out 0
Extras (lb 2, w 5) 7
Total (8 wickets; 20 overs) 139
Did not batYS Chahal
Fall of wickets 1-23 (Kohli, 4.1 ov), 2-25 (de Villiers, 4.6 ov), 3-36 (Mandeep Singh, 7.1 ov), 4-80 (Gayle, 13.3 ov), 5-107 (Karthik, 16.2 ov), 6-125 (Wiese, 18.2 ov), 7-138 (Patel, 19.3 ov), 8-139 (Khan, 19.5 ov)
Bowling
A Nehra 4-0-28-3, R Ashwin 4-0-13-1, MM Sharma 4-0-22-1, SK Raina 3-0-36-1, DJ Bravo 3-0-21-1, P Negi 1-0-4-0, RA Jadeja 1-0-13-0
Chennai Super Kings
DR Smith c Starc b Aravind 17
MEK Hussey c Patel b Wiese 56
F du Plessis b Chahal 21
SK Raina c Wiese b Chahal 0
MS Dhoni c †Karthik b Patel 26
P Negi run out (Khan) 12
DJ Bravo b Starc 0 1
RA Jadeja not out 0
R Ashwin not out 1
Extras (b 3, lb 1, w 3) 7
Total (7 wickets; 19.5 overs) 140
Did not batMM Sharma, A Nehra
Fall of wickets 1-21 (Smith, 3.1 ov), 2-61 (du Plessis, 9.2 ov), 3-61 (Raina, 9.4 ov), 4-108 (Hussey, 16.3 ov), 5-135 (Negi, 18.5 ov), 6-135 (Bravo, 18.6 ov), 7-139 (Dhoni, 19.4 ov)
Bowling
MA Starc 4-0-27-1, S Aravind 4-0-25-1, HV Patel 3.5-0-26-1, D Wiese 4-0-30-1, YS Chahal 4-0-28-2
MATCH DETAILS
Toss – Chennai Super Kings, who chose to field
Series – Chennai Super Kings advanced
Player of the match – tba
Umpires – AK Chaudhary and CB Gaffaney (New Zealand)
TV umpire – C Shamshuddin
Match referee – RS Mahanama (Sri Lanka)
Reserve umpire – K Srinath
Well bowled. Age is just a number. India's Ashish Nehra is in awesome form.
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