Picture Credit: IPL

After 59 exciting matches in IPL 2021, it was time for the grand finale with Chennai Super Kings locking horns with Kolkata Knight Riders in Dubai. It was a big game and the toss was always going to be quite crucial. It was Eoin Morgan who won the coin flip and he asked MS Dhoni and Co. to bat first. However, it turned out to be blessing in disguise for CSK who batted without any pressure and went on to post a huge total on the board.

Chennai produce batting masterclass in finale

With CSK playing their 9th finale in IPL, it was very evident that they used their experience of big games to their advantage. While KKR seemed to be making few mistakes on the field, the Yellow Army seized on them and batted brilliantly on a wicket which looked quite good.

After Ruturaj Gaikwad (32 off 27) provided a solid start, Robin Uthappa (31 off 15) continued the momentum with his fiery cameo. In the end, it was Moeen Ali (37* off 20) who provided the finishing touches to take CSK to a huge total of 192/3 in 20 overs.

However, the star of the show was the experienced opener Faf du Plessis, who played an astonishing knock of 86 runs off 59 balls to set up a perfect platform for CSK's win.

MS Dhoni and Co. become champions in Dubai

With a huge task in hand, KKR needed an explosive start and they got that with Venkatesh Iyer (50 off 32) and Shubman Gill (51 off 43) continuing their impressive run of form as they went on to smash half-centuries. The Men in Purple had done an incredible job in the first phase of the run-chase with the score reading 88/0 in 10 overs.

Also Read: Why was Shubman Gill given not out despite getting caught by Ambati Rayudu?

However, just like their last few matches, things started to go haywire after the loss of first wicket. Soon after the dismissal of Iyer, the KKR batsmen fell like a pack of cards and another collapse resulted in them falling short of the target by 27 runs as CSK became the champions of IPL 2021.

For the bowling side, Josh Hazlewood (2/29) and Ravindra Jadeja (2/37) took crucial wickets but it was Shardul Thakur (3/38) who bowled the match-changing spell, despite conceding few runs in his final over.

CSK win their 4th IPL title

After failing to qualify for playoffs last season for the first time in their history, Chennai Super Kings produced a remarkable turnaround in IPL 2021 to become the champions. With their triumph in Dubai, CSK clinched their 4th trophy, closing the gap on Mumbai Indians' tally of 5 IPL titles.