Match Review of IPL 4 Final Chennai Super Kings vs. Royal Challengers

Indian Premier League - Match review

Date : 28th May 2011 Match No. : 74
Teams : Chennai Super Kings vs. Royal Challengers Bangalore
Venue : M Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai.
Umpires : Asad Rauf & Simon Taufel Third Umpire: K Dharamsena
Toss : Chennai Super Kings

Playing XI

Royal Challengers Bangalore Mayank Aggarwal Chris Gayle Virat Kohli AB de Villiers L. Pommersbach Daniel Vettori © S. Arvind Abhimanyu Mithun Zaheer Khan Saurabh Tiwary J. Syed Mohd.

Chennai Super Kings Mike Hussey Murali Vijay M S Dhoni & Suresh Raina Albie Morkel S Badrinath D Bravo W Saha R Ashwin D Bollinger S B Jakati

The wait is finally over.as the Chennai Super Kings take on the Royal Challengers Bangalore at the Chidambaram Stadium, Chennai in the final of the IPL 2011. The two best sides of the tournament have established some new records this season. Chennai have won all leagues played on their home-ground and Bangalore have registered 7 consecutive victories irrespective of the venue. This season the two teams have played each other thrice with Chennai leading 2-1.

Chennai is the only team to have made it to the finals of all seasons except one i.e. 2009. The team consistently looks good under the leadership of Dhoni. However their winning track record has not been that great outside Chennai. Bangalore has had some considerable achievement in this tournament but their over dependence on Chris Gyale must be a concern for the team. All said and done the stage is set for a cracking final to be witnessed by a full house in the Chidambaram stadium.

The pitch at Chennai is usually a slow track which is likely to get slower towards the second part of the innings. Team winning the toss would look forward to bat first and put up a decent total on the board. The coin landed in the favor of the home side and Dhoni judging the track right took the decision to bat first. Murali Vijay and Mike Hussey opened the Chennai innings. An innings of Murali's potential was long due at his end and Hussey has also failed to spark in last few matches. Chennai needed a good start which can be utilized by the rest of the batting line up to put up a big score against a side which had the run machine Gyale. It was a dream start for the Chennai as both the openers scored rapidly but with contrast approaches. While Murali was aggressive and tried to punish every bowler, Hussey played a calm role and kept ticking the scoreboard with quick singles and odd boundaries in between.

The two managed to put up 56 runs by the end of the 1st powerplay. Murali looked in superb nick hitting boundaries and sixes at will and managed to compete his half century in just 29 balls. Once the power play was over, the duo intensified the assault and went ahead to complete the 100 runs mark in the 11th over itself. It was a pleasure to watch this opening pair bat as the two complemented each other very well. Nothing worked as scripted for Bangalore. All the bowlers were hammered for over 7 runs an over, with Zaheer Khan being the most economical of the lot. A side who has been setting high standards on the field looked pretty ordinary. There were few missed run out chances, some needless throws conceding extra runs and dropped catches. All this helped the Chennai openers put up a massive 159 runs partnership, the highest ever 1st wicket partnership in any IPL season. Finally, the wicket came the visitor's way in the 15th over when Hussey tried to hit Syed Mohamad for a six but the ball landed in the hands of Abhimanyu Mithun.

A perfect stage set for the Skipper to come and make the most of the excellent start by the openers. Even after losing the partner the run flow at Murali's end did not stop. He kept hammering the bowl and was well supported by the captain. Murali eyeing on a hundred fell just 5 runs short when he was caught by Vettori off the bowling of Aravind in the penultimate over. He scored 95 of 52 deliveries hitting four 4s and six 6s. Dhoni was the next man to go off the next bowl itself after scoring a quick 22 of just 13 balls hitting two 6s.

The visitors were able to pull out few wickets towards the end of the Chennai innings. Vettori handed over the ball to Gayle to bowl the final over. He bowled an excellent over removing Raina and Morkel on consecutive deliveries and was on a hat-trick. Bravo averted the hat-trick and hit him for a huge six of the last ball taking the team total to 205. At one stage when Murali and Hussey were at the crease, a total of above 220 was definitely on cards for the home side. But nevertheless, 205 was a mammoth total to chase on a slow track.

206 in 20 overs, an average of over 10 runs an over right from the word go and to be maintained all through the innings against the attack of spinners like Ashwin and Jakati was definitely a huge ask. The only man who could do it was Chris Gyale who is capable of hitting the bowl, no matter however tough the pitch conditions may be. Mayank Aggarwal and Chris Gyale, the two openers who destructed the Mumbai Indians bowling attack in the semifinals opened the innings once again. They were expected to put up a partnership stand like the previous night. Dhoni decided to open the bowling with Ashwin which proved to be a great move. While all eyes were on Gyale, Ashwin bowled a classic off-spinner which induced an edge from Gyale, well caught by the skipper, keeping the wickets and the big fish was sent back to the pavilion on a duck in the 1st over itself.

Virat Kohli who has been in excellent form all through the season and has been a witness of some great RCB victories was the new man at the crease. Ashwin struck again in the 3d over of the innings and clean bowled the other opener Mayank Aggarwal on 10 and the visitors were in some serious trouble with 2 wickets down for just 16. A miraculous innings by Kohli was the only hope for the visitors. He was joined by AB de Villiers who had a very ordinary tournament with the bat. The duo put up a 32 runs stand until de Villiers was trapped in front of the wickets off Jakati. With 3 wickets down under the 50 runs mark was a clear indicator that the visitor's title aspirations were practically over. Soon Jakati added another wicket to his kitty when Pommersbach top edged the ball, misjudging the spin and the catch was finished by the bowler itself. The visitors now in a complete frenzy with 4 down for 62 in the 9th over.

Kohli instilled some hopes and hit few healthy blows but was soon trapped in front of the wickets off the bowling of the part-timer Suresh Raina. That was the last nail in the Bangalore's coffin. Kohli scored 35 of 32 deliveries. Tiwari was joined by skipper Vettori to take the team to a respectable total. Ashwin off his last over removed the captain Vettori for a duck and completing his spell with excellent figures of 3/16 in his 4 overs. The Chennai spinners completely de-railed the Bangalore batting as the visitors were 7 wickets down under the 100 run mark. Chennai was always on top of the situation.

Tiwari stayed at the crease for a while and put up a partnership of 39 runs with Abhimanyu Mithun taking the score to a beyond the century mark. All other batsmen failed to perform in the crucial final match. With small contributions from the middle lower order the visitors managed to reach a total of 147 runs which was 58 runs short of the chase. Tiwari remained unbeaten at 42. 6 out of the total 8 wickets down were packed off by the Chennai super spin attack. 159 runs opening partnership laid the foundation for the victory and bowlers completed the job. It looked as if the Dhoni army had saved the best performance of the tournament for a contest that mattered the most. The defending champions registered a comprehensive 58 runs win to guarantee their title.

Result: Chennai Super Kings won by 58 runs

The Awards

Man of the match
Murali Vijay for match winning knock of 95 runs.

Maximum Sixes
Murali Vijay for 6 sixes

Kingfisher Fair Play Award
Chennai Super Kings top the chart

Orange Cap (The leading run scorer)
Chris Gayle, Royal Challengers Bangalore.

Purple Cap (The leading wicket taker)
Lasith Mallinga- Mumbai Indians

Question of the day?
How much role did the venue play in Chennai's win?



Last Updated on 30 May 2011