In his own den, MS Dhoni held all the aces right from the moment he won the toss, as after that there was a very little that could have gone wrong for the Chennai Super Kings in Ranchi.
The Chennai Super Kings reached the IPL 2015 final with a comprehensive three-wicket win over the Royal Challengers Bangalore in Dhoni’s hometown to book the summit clash with the Kolkata Knight Riders.
Chennai, after winning the toss, utilised the conditions to their advantage and created pressure right from the word go. The spinners, Ravichandran Ashwin in particular, did their part to restrict RCB to 139.
Ashish Nehra, however, was the wrecker-in-chief for the Chennai Super Kings as he continued his wicket-taking form to finish with three wickets, while others supported him quite well from the other end.
The Royal Challengers struggled for partnerships and never got a flowing innings from any of their in-form batsmen. Chris Gayle did make a 40, but his stay was not more than a struggle in the middle.
Chasing 140 was never going to be a problem for the Chennai Super Kings, unless they face a massive batting collapse, which didn’t happen and they cruised to victory quite comfortably.
Dwayne Smith, however, couldn’t manage to convert a start yet again, while Faf du Plessis was dismissed just when he was looking set and upping the ante.
The Chennai Super Kings lost a bit of momentum when du Plessis and Suresh Raina were dismissed within a space of three balls. But, Michael Hussey kept the one end knotted and held the innings together.
Hussey made a well thought-out half-century and upped the ante when required. The Chennai Super Kings chased down the total with a ball to spare.
