Picture Credit: BCCI/IPL
Chennai Super Kings put up a sensational effort to beat Delhi Capitals by 4 wickets in a thrilling Qualifier 1 of IPL 2021 in Dubai International Cricket Stadium. With the win they progressed to the final of IPL 2021, where they will face one of the three teams- Delhi Capitals, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Kolkata Knight Riders.
After getting an invitation to bat first on Sunday, Delhi posted a total of 172/5 in 20 overs on the back of powerful knocks from Prithvi Shaw and Rishabh Pant. While Shaw rode his luck to smash 60 off just 34, the DC skipper scored an unbeaten 51 off 35. Shimron Hetmyer's 37 off 24 also helped Delhi's cause.
In reply, Ruturaj Gaikwad (70 off 50) played a scintillating knock to anchor CSK's innings. However, that huge contribution even seemed to be not enough as when Gaikwad departed on the first ball of the 19th over, CSK still needed 24 off 11. MS Dhoni stepped in next and changed the scenario of the game in the next five balls he faced before killing the game on the 6th delivery.
After playing a dot ball to Avesh Khan, Dhoni smashed the right-arm pacer for a six before playing a dot again on the last ball of the 19th over. The very next over Dhoni's partner at the other end Moeen Ali lost his wicket. However, the batters had crossed their paths by then and Dhoni took the strike to smash two consecutive boundaries. The next ball saw Curran bowling a wide before MSD could eventually seal the affair with a boundary.