DUBAI : An all-round performance by Dhoni’s men restricted Kolkata Knight Riders to a mere 165 runs for 9 wickets chasing Chennai Super Kings Faf du Plessis (86 runs) driven total of 192 for 3 wickets in 20 overs. Kolkata Knight Riders started off the chase well with the openers Gill and Iyer contributing half centuries each. After Thakur breaking the opening partnership in the 10th over for 91 runs, KKR rode down hill with 3 wickets falling for just 16 runs. In the 17th over KKR scorecard was a pathetic sight at 144 for 8 wickets. Other than the openers , only Shivam mavi (20) and logi Ferguson (18) reached a double digit score.
KKR won the toss and opted to bowl first. KKR in both previous IPL finals were successful chasers (2012 & 2014). They opted to do the same this year, however it didn’t pay off. The KKR weak middle order and an out of form KKR captain were exposed today.
Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 32 runs off 27 balls and supported Faf du Plessis who scored 86 off 59 balls. Robin Uthappa played an aggressive cameo of 31 runs off 15 balls to ensure CSK scores 190 plus.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is the orange cup holder slightly edging over Faf du Plessis with 635 runs from 16 games.
Today MS Dhoni became the first player to captain in 300 T20 games and he successfully led Chennai Super Kings to its 4th IPL title beating KKR by 27 runs.
