Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
CSK defeated KKR convincingly in the IPL 2021 final and ended up winning the coveted trophy in style. Chennai's comeback has been a terrific story. Everyone wrote off the champion side in 2020 season after their poor performance but almost with same team (except 2-3 changes), they redeemed themselves and lifted the trophy for 2nd time in 2018-2021 cycle. Initially, KKR invited CSK to bat first and opener Faf du Plessis smashed a brilliant 86 (59) to set the stage for CSK very well. Along with fabulous knock of Faf du Plessis, handy contributions from Robbie Uthappa and Moeen Ali ensured Chennai posted a formidable total of 192/3 after 20 overs.
KKR started the chase on a very positive note with the help of great opening partnership from Venkatesh Iyer & Shubman Gill. The duo added 91 runs for the opening stand which gave a solid start to Kolkata innings. However, post the opening partnership, KKR lost momentum and kept losing wickets at regular intervals while accelerating to catch the required run rate. Shardul Thakur's spell in middle overs totally changed the game in favour of CSK and Rahul Tripathi's injury also ended up being a setback for Kolkata in the chase.
Numbers and stats from CSK vs KKR IPL 2021 final:
2 - Ruturaj Gaikwad became only the 2nd player to win orange cap and IPL trophy in same season after Robbie Uthappa (2014).
4 - CSK have won IPL trophy for the 4th time and T20 trophy for 6th time (Including 2 CL T20 trophies).
5 - Ambati Rayudu has won 5 IPL finals as player.
Most IPL finals won as player:
Rohit Sharma - 6
Ambati Rayudu - 5
Kieron Pollard - 5
8 - MS Dhoni now has won most T20 tournaments as captain overall. Meanwhile, Dwayne Bravo has won most T20 tournaments (16) as player overall.
Most T20 tournament won as captain:
MS Dhoni - 8
Rohit Sharma - 7
Shoaib Malik - 5
Most T20 tournament won as player:
Dwayne Bravo - 16
Kieron Pollard - 15
Shoaib Malik - 13
2 - Top two run-getters of IPL 2021 season - Ruturaj Gaikwad (635) & Faf du Plessis (633) are from same team CSK. Last time top two run getters of an IPL season came from the same team was in 2011 [Chris Gayle 608 runs and Virat Kohli 557 runs for RCB].
4 - Venkatesh Iyer has smashed four fifty-plus scores in IPL 2021 at UAE venue which is the joint-most with Glenn Maxwell.
40 - At the age of 40, MS Dhoni became the oldest captain to lift IPL trophy.
4 - CSK have become the only team in IPL history to defeat 4 different opponents (MI, RCB, SRH & KKR) in the IPL finals. Previously CSK's record was jointly held with MI who have defeated 3 different opponents (CSK, RPS & DC) to win 5 IPL titles.
4 - Faf du Plessis became the 4th CSK player to score 600-plus runs in an IPL season.
Most runs for CSK in an IPL season:
Michael Hussey - 733 runs in 2013
Ruturaj Gaikwad - 635 runs in 2021
Faf du Plessis - 633 runs in 2021
Ambati Rayudu - 602 runs in 2018
Matthew Hayden - 572 runs in 2009
11 - Eoin Morgan got dismissed for 11th single digit score in IPL 2021. He averages only 11.08 with the bat from 16 innings this season.
Lowest batting average by a captain in an IPL season (min 10 innings):
Eoin Morgan - 11.08 in 2021
Harbhajan Singh - 12 in 2012
Shane Warne - 13.5 in 2009