Chennai Super Kings win fourth IPL title

Chennai Super Kings beat Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs to win their fourth Indian Premier League title.

Faf du Plessis hit a magnificent 86 off 59 balls, laced with seven fours and three sixes, to help CSK post 192. Then the bowlers led by Shardul Thakur restricted Kolkata Knight Riders batters to 165 runs.

Chasing 193, Kolkata Knight Riders were off to a flyer as Venkatesh Iyer, and Shubman Gill formed a 91-run stand for the first wicket. Kolkata were cruising towards the target, but two tight overs from Dwayne Bravo changed the game. Then in the 11th over, Shardul Thakur gave CSK the much-needed breakthrough  when Venkatesh Iyer tried to hit him over mid-off.

KKR lost Nitish Rana’s wicket three balls later, and then there was no looking back for CSK. Kolkata lost eight wickets for 34 runs.

Winning the toss, Kolkata Knight Riders captain Eoin Morgan asked Chennai to bat, and KKR bowlers were off to a good start as Shakib Al Hasan, and Shivam Mavi gave away just nine runs in the first two overs. Ruturaj Gaikwad, who eventually ended up with the IPL 2021 Orange Cap, shifted gears as Chennai Super Kings scored 50 runs in the first six overs.

Sunil Narine got rid of Ruturaj on the first ball of the ninth over, but Faf du Plessis continued. He and Robin Uthappa formed a 63-run stand for the second wicket before Narine struck again.

Faf du Plessis, who had already reached his half-century, continued his onslaught of KKR bowlers and was joined by English all-rounder Moeen Ali in the middle. The duo scored 68 runs in 39 balls as CSK neared the 200-run mark. A tight last over by Shivam Mavi, where he conceded just seven runs and took the wicket of du Plessis, stopped CSK at 192/3.