
Chennai Super Kings (CSK) once again made it to the final of Indian Premier League thanks to a magnificent six-wicket victory in the Qualifier 2 against Delhi Capitals (DC) at Vizag on Friday (May 10).
The defending champion side rallied its way to the title last year on the back of a strong batting unit. However, the theme reversed this season, where the bowling unit has maintained the team's status as a force to reckon with, which even skipper MS Dhoni acknowledged after this victory.
"The crucial part was to keep getting wickets. The credit needs to go to the bowlers. The captain only asks this is what I need. Then it's up to them to figure out how to bowl, and they have to put in the hard yards. Thanks to the bowling department for where we are this season," he said at the post-match presentation ceremony.
Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja scalped two wickets each as CSK restricted DC to a modest first innings total of 147/9 on a sluggish pitch. Before chasing the target down quite comfortably in 19 overs on the back of fine half-centuries from openers Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson. With this win, Dhoni's men set-up a clash in the final against Mumbai Indians at Hyderabad on Sunday (May 12).
"It's the usual route, last year was an exception. You'll go for runs, miss a few catches, but it's important to come back strong. The way we batted to chase down 140-plus was really nice," Dhoni added. "The bowling effort was brilliant, and we kept it in the right areas, not allowing Delhi to get a big score."
"It's important to get their openers out - their batting line-up is really strong and they have many left-handers and we have a left-arm spinner to negate them. The ground is a little small, so it is important for them to keep getting wickets."
"If the openers had stayed and done the finishing after the hard yards, that would have been better, but I'm happy to take the win anyway," Dhoni concluded.
(Inputs from India Today)
