The Chennai Super Kings won the IPL 4 Title in 2011, after beating the Royal Challengers Bangalore by a massive 58 runs in the grand finale in Chennai tonight. The CSK played like a team and emerged victorious before the home crowd.
Chennai Super Kings had beaten Mumbai Indians to lift the IPL 3 title last year. They have done it again. Murali Vijay, who struggled for runs throughout the tournament, saved his best for the final. He played the anchor role with 95 off 52 balls.
Earlier, Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bat first. Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey added 159 for the first wicket in 14.5 overs. The CSK scored 205/5 in 20 overs.
Murali Vijay was the top scorer with 95 off 52 balls with 4 boundaries and 6 sixes. Hussey scored 63 (45). Skipper MS Dhoni made 22 off 13 balls. For RCB, Sreenath Aravind and Chris Gayle took two wickets.
Chasing a mammoth victory target of 206, RCB expected Gayle to fire. However, he was out for a duck. Gayle fell to Ashwin. He faced just three balls.
Ashwin removed Mayank Agarwal soon after and the RCB were 16/2. They never recovered from that shock and lost wickets at regular intervals. Royal Challengers Bangalore finally scored 147/8 in 20 overs.
Saurabh Tiwary remained unbeaten on 42, while Virat Kohli scored 36. R Aswhin took three wickets, while Shadab Jakati took two wickets. Murali Vijay was declared ‘Man of the Match’. Chris Gayle was declared ‘DLF Golden Player Award‘. The Chennai Super Kings won the ‘Fair Play Trophy’ too.
The Chennai Super Kings lifted the IPL Trophy for the second time in a row. It’s a proud moment for skipper MS Dhoni, who recently lifted the World Cup for Team India. The team received Rs 10 crore for winning the title.
IPL 2011 Awards:
Citibank Rising Star: Iqbal Abdulla (KKR) [16 Wickets in 14 Games]
King of Karbonn Kamaal Catches: Kieron Pollard (Mumbai Indians)
Volkswagen Best Individual Performance: Paul Valthaty (Kings XI Punjab) [120*]
DLF IPL Leading Run Scorer: Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore) [511 runs in 9 matches]
DLF IPL Leading Wicket Taker: Lasith Malinga (Mumbai Indians) [27 wickets in 14 matches]
Kingfisher Fair Play Trophy: Chennai Super Kings
DLF Golden Player Award: Chris Gayle (Royal Challengers Bangalore)
IPL Pitch and Outfield Award: Punjab Cricket Association (PCA)
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Chennai Super Kings crush RCB to keep crown
Chennai: A century partnership between openers Michael Hussey (63, 45b, 3 x 6, 3 x 4) and Murali Vijay (95, 52b, 6 x 6, 4 x 4) followed by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin’s three-wicket haul, saw the Chennai Super Kings completing a 58- run win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore in the final of the Indian Premier League, here on Saturday.
The Super Kings, in retaining the trophy, outclassed the Royal Challengers after making 205 for five and then checking the visitors to 147 for eight and cap an eight-match winning streak at home this season.
As well as Vijay and Hussey batted to provide a great launch pad for the Super Kings, it was Ashwin’s dismissal of the two danger batsmen, Chris Gayle (0) and Mayank Agarwal (10) by the third over that turned the tide firmly in favour of the hosts.
Virat Kohli (35 off 32) offered some resistance, but his exit in the 10th over, virtually ended the Bangalore challenge that tonight was not good enough to trouble the Super Kings who did just about everything right on the field.
Late in the innings, Saurabh Tiwary (42 not out) only delayed the inevitable as the Super Kings dropped a couple of catches.
Gayle, in his brief stay, never looked comfortable, unable to fathom the turn and bounce that Ashwin extracted, and the Jamaican powerhouse lasted a mere three balls before thin-edging to Dhoni.
In his next over, Ashwin struck again, rattling Mayank Agarwal’s off-stump with a straight delivery and the Royal Challengers were reeling at 16 for two in the third over.
Kohli and AB de Villiers put together a 32-run stand for the third wicket, but the South African, not in best of form this season, departed, missing a pull off left-arm spinner Jakati and trapped plumb in front.
Jakati struck another blow in his next over, accepting a simple return catch from a clueless Luke Pomersbach who lead-edged, playing for the turn that wasn’t quite there.
With four gone for just 62 in the ninth over, the Royal Challengers were staring at defeat and even more so when Kohli fell leg before to Suresh Raina, while skipper Daniel Vettori was dismissed in the next over, offering an easy catch to Ashwin.
The Royal Challengers never recovered from these body blows despite some late blitz by Tiwary as the Super Kings then cleaned up the tail to author a memorable victory that was founded on the Vijay-Hussey classic.
It was one of the finest batting exhibitions in the IPL this season as both Vijay and Hussey complemented each other, both in shot making and running hard between the wickets.
The run-making was a glorious mix of power hitting, elegant strokes and some deft placements, as the pair, with just two half-century partnerships this season, prospered, growing in confidence all the time.
It was not long before Hussey and Vijay opened up with a series of well-timed sixes and the Super Kings had the early momentum they had missed in the previous games.
The Royal Challengers bowling and fielding flagged as the runs flowed freely and at a good clip. Neither Hussey nor Vijay were unduly hassled on a pitch that afforded true bounce, but very little lateral movement.
For all their dominance, the Super Kings openers stuck to the basics, taking the singles and twos when presented even as they peppered the ropes to provide their team a solid platform.
The heat and humidity eventually got to the batsmen as first Hussey departed, holing out in the deep in the 15th over with the score reading 159. Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni then played a cameo while Vijay too left, out to a tired shot, just five short of a century.
Thereafter, left-arm seamer Sreenath Aravind picked up two wickets off consecutive balls before Gayle emulated that feat in the final over only to see his West Indian counterpart Dwayne Bravo slamming a six off the last ball to put 200 on the board and the Super Kings firmly in the saddle
SCORE-BOARD
Chennai Super Innings:
Michael Hussey c Mithun b Mohammed 63 (45b, 3 x 6, 3 x 4)
Murali Vijay c Vettori b Aravind 95 (52b, 6 x 6, 4 x 4)
Mahendra Singh Dhoni c Kohli b Aravind 22 (13b, 2 x 6)
Suresh Raina b Gayle 08 (5b, 1 x 6)
Albie Morkel c Kohli b Gayle 02 (4b)
Subramaniam Badrinath (not out) 00 (0b)
Dwayne Bravo (not out) 06 (1b, 1 x 6)
Extras (lb-7, w-2): 09
Total (for 5 wkts, 20 overs): 205.
Fall of wickets: 1-159 (Hussey, 14.5); 2-188 (Vijay, 18.1); 3-188 (Dhoni, 18.2); 4-199 (Morkel, 19.4); 5-199 (Raina, 19.5).
Bowling: Zaheer Khan 4-0-30-0; Sreenath Aravind 3-0-39-2 (2w); Chris Gayle 4-0-34-2; Syed Mohammed 3-0-39-1; Daniel Vettori 4-0-34-0; Abhimanyu Mithun 2-0-22-0.
Royal Challengers Bangalore Innings:
Mayank Agarwal b Ashwin 10 (5b, 2 x 4)
Chris Gayle c Dhoni b Ashwin 00 (3b)
Virat Kohli lbw Raina 35 (32b, 1 x 6, 1 x 4)
AB de Villiers lbw Jakati 18 (12b, 3 x 4)
Luke Pomersbach c and b Jakati 02 (3b)
Saurabh Tiwary (not out) 42 (34b, 3 x 6, 1 x 4)
Daniel Vettori c and b Ashwin 00 (1b)
Abhimanyu Mithun c Bollinger b Bravo 11 (8b, 2 x 4)
Zaheer Khan c Hussey b Bollinger 21 (21b, 2 x 4)
Syed Mohammed (not out) 02 (2b)
Extras (b-2, lb-2, w-1, nb-1): 06
Total (for 8 wkts, 20 overs): 147.
Fall of wickets: 1-1 (Gayle, 0.4); 2-16 (Agarwal, 2.3); 3-48 (de Villiers, 6.3); 4-62 (Pomersbach, 8.3); 5-69 (Kohli, 9.5); 6-70 (Vettori, 10.2); 7-92 (Mithun, 12.6); 8-130 (Zaheer, 18.4).
Bowling: Ravichandran Ashwin 4-0-16-3; Albie Morkel 3-0-24-0; Doug Bollinger 3-0-28-1 (1w); Shadab Jakati 4-0-21-2 (1nb); Suresh Raina 4-0-39-1; Dwayne Bravo 2-0-15-1.