Chennai Super Kings (CSK) became the IPL 2021 champions with MS Dhoni lifting his fourth IPL trophy as they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in the final on October 15 in Dubai.
KKR won the toss and decided to bowl first. CSK put on a huge 192/3 in 20 overs with Faf du Plessis top-scoring with 86 with 3 sixes and 7 fours. Robin Uthappa (31), Moeen Ali (37*) and Ruturaj Gaikwad (32) were the other major contributors. For KKR, Sunil Narine picked 2/26.
In reply, though both KKR openers Venkatesh Iyer (50) and Shubman Gill (51) made half-centuries and added 91 runs for the first wicket, they failed to carry on with their innings, leaving the out of form and vulnerable middle order to chase down the runs as the asking rate crept north of the 10 runs per over.
Nitish Rana and Shakib Al Hasan made ducks, Sunil Narine fell for 2, captain Morgan fell for 4 runs and Dinesh Karthik fell for 7 runs. KKR just couldn’t keep up with the required run-rate from the start and lost the match by 27 runs as they ended on 165/9 in 20 overs. Shardul Thakur (3/38) and Josh Hazlewood and Ravindra Jadeja with two wickets were the picks of CSK bowlers.
IPL 2021: WATCH – Sakshi and Ziva’s adorable hug to MS Dhoni after CSK’s fourth IPL title win
As CSK won the match, the yellow army soldiers decided to celebrate and two of them were Ravindra Jadeja and Dwayne Bravo.
Ravindra Jadeja said: "Feeling amazing, we've been working hard for this title. I thought the Venky Iyer catch went so high, I looked at Moeen and he was looking at me, so I knew I had go for it. That catch changed it for us. Mr DJ Bravo is going to entertain us all night. It's time for him to change his name from 'Champion' to 'Sir Champion'."
Bravo also added to the thought saying,” Kieron Pollard, and I am catching up to him. The belief in the squad by the management - they believe in the core of the team - and after the last season, we were really disappointed. In four years, we won three titles. "Didn't get nervous. We have confidence in the entire group. A lot of players have shown good performances in different phases. Gaikwad and du Plessis were outstanding. Coming here today and getting an extra day's rest was important."
The duo also serenaded the presenters with a song. MS Dhoni was also seen signing the spider cam sporting a huge smile in the process.
Here is the video:
