Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab for the third consecutive time in the IPL and entered the grand finale. The cool man admitted that he was under pressure but couldn't show it outside. He wanted his bowlers to see a confident man in the field.
Winning the toss and deciding to bat first, Kings XI Punjab failed to capitalize on the crucial toss. The much expected fight in a neutral venue did not go well as expected.
Chennai Super Kings had an easy target in hand to enter the finals and they did it withe ease. Chasing 113 in 16 overs is an easy task unless the batsmen make mistakes or the bowlers are too good in their line and length. Dhoni's team ensured that they did not make the mistakes they committed against Bangalore Royal Challengers while chasing an easy target of 127.
Vidyut got out in the 3rd over for 6 with a four. That was the only wicket to fall and we couldn't see the aggressive Yuvaraj after that. Both Patel and Raina played well to ensure that their team moved to the final stage of the game.
Both of them scored 50 in this short run chase which ended in the 15th over. Patel was the first to cross fifty in 47 balls with 8 fours and followed by Raina in 32 balls with 3 fours and 4 sixes.
Raina took little risk every now and then. He hit his first six of VRV Singh over long on. The short ball pitched on the off stump was sent over long for a six. He game room for himself and that helped him to clear the boundary.
It was strange that Sreesanth bowled just one over. I think the he was not utilized properly in this game. One of the top five most wicket takers in this IPL, it was surprising that Yuvi did used him for just one over.
His second six went out of the ground. That was really huge. The short ball from Hopes was hit over mid wicket. Pathan's short ball was his third six over mid wicket. His fourth six came off Piyush Chawla's flight deilvery which was swept over mid wicket. The next ball was a four and that was his fifty. He chipped the 5th ball of the 15th over to make the winning boundary. He was awarded the DLF Maximum Sixes Award.
They both added 102 runs for the unbeaten second wicket in 75 balls.
Read: Man of the Match List
Read: Points Table
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Read: Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils
Earlier, Kings XI did not start well. They lost wickets at regular intervals. Interesting, Dhoni opened his bowling attack with Muralitharan. He bowled just one over and conceded 7 runs. The first ball was a full toss and Marsh smashed hit through cover. Marsh scored 23 in 17 balls with 3 sixes and a six, couldn't continue his form. The pull of a short ball from Ntini, got the inside edge and dragged the ball to the stumps. Hopes was caught behind of Ntini in the second over. Sangakkar walked on his own though umpire did not give him out. He was caught behind of Gony in the 3rd over and Punjab was struggling at 11 for 2.
Most runs in the power play came in the 4th over bowled by Nitni where Marsh hit a six of an edge, which went over the keeper's head. Another edge went to fine leg boundary.
Gony and Muralitharan sent Yuvaraj back to the pavilion. It was a short ball and Yuvaraj pulled it with full power towards mid wicket. Muralitharan intercepted it near the ring and took a brilliant catch. In the next over Marsh was bowled.
At the end of power play, Kings XI were 35 for 4. Pathan and Jayawardane steadied the innings for the next overs, but the poor calling had Pathan run out. Jayawardane played the ball towards cover point boundary where Ntini brilliantly stopped the ball but couldn't control crossing the boundary. He intelligently rolled the ball inside the playing area and came back to pick it up. Pathan who looked for the third was first acknowledged by Jayawardane, but later sent him back, but by that time it was too late. Ntini sent a good one bounce throw to bowler Gony and he did the rest. Pathan was in the middle of the pitch and couldn't do much.
In the next over, Jayawardane tried to steer the ball to third man, edged the ball to Parthiv Patel off Morkel.
At the end of 10 overs, Kings XI were 45 for 6 almost ruined their chances to final. Chawla was bowled by Muralitharan's flight delivery. Powar though tried to hit the ball many times couldn't connect most of the deliveries. But, he hit a six of Morkel in the 19th over and then 3 consecutive fours of Balaji in the 20th over. The last 2 overs added 28 to the total and helped Kings XI to cross the 100 mark.
Mota was the 8th wicket to fall. In the last ball of the 19th over, Mota tried to loft the ball over long on, but it ballooned in the air. Raina came running from long and took a stunning diving catch.
Kings XI ended their innings with 112 for 8, Ramesh Power top scoring with 28 not out off 21 balls with 4 fours and a six.
Ntini was given the man of the match award, his second in IPL, for his good bowling performance and also for the good intelligent fielding and thorw which ran out Irfan Pathan.
Match 58 - Semi Final 2
Venue: Mumbai
Date: May 31, 2008
Teams: Chennai Super Kings and Kings XI Punjab
Captains: Mahendra Singh Dhoni and Yuvaraj Singh
Toss: Kings XI Punjab and decided to bat
Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 9 wickets with 31 balls remaining
Man of the Match: M Ntini off Chennai Super Kings (South Africa)
Score:
Kings XI Punjab 112 for 8 in 20 overs (SE Marsh 23, JR Hopes 2, KC Sangakkara 3, Yuvraj Singh 4, DPMD Jayawardene 8, IK Pathan 3, WA Mota 25, PP Chawla 12, RR Powar 28 not out, S Sreesanth 0 not out, Extras-4 (b 2, wide 2), M Muralitharan 4-0-19-1, M Ntini 4-0-23-2, M Gony 4-1-14-2, JA Morkel 4-0-27-2, L Balaji 4-0-27-0) lost to Chennai Super Kings 116 for 1 in 14.5 overs (PA Patel 51 not out, S Vidyut 6, SK Raina 55 not out, Extras-4 (wide 4), IK Pathan 4-0-24-0, S Sreesanth 1-0-7-0, RR Powar 3-0-28-0, VRV Singh 2-0-14-0, JR Hopes 2-0-20-0, PP Chawla 2.5-0-23-0)
Read: Semi Final 1: Rajasthan Royals v. Delhi Daredevils
Read: Man of the Match List
Read: Points Table
Read: IPL Scores Table!
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