Du Plessis hits 86 as Dhoni’s Chenni edge out Knight Riders to win T20 league.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s Chennai Tremendous Kings claimed their fourth Indian Premier League (IPL) title with a snug 27-run victory towards Kolkata Knight Riders within the closing in Dubai.
Put into bat, Chennai amassed 192-3 with opener Faf du Plessis anchoring their innings with 86 off 59 balls, which additionally earned the South African the man-of-the-match award on Friday.
Opener Ruturaj Gaikwad made 32 and went on to assert the orange cap because the match’s main scorer.
Robin Uthappa (31) and Moeen Ali (37 not out) chipped in with helpful cameos to assist Chennai put up an imposing whole.
The second half of this yr’s IPL befell within the United Arab Emirates final month after it was suspended in Could in India as a result of COVID-19.
Kolkata, led by England white-ball captain Eoin Morgan, acquired off to a flying begin with openers Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer smashing particular person fifties.
Gill made 51 and Iyer scored 50 earlier than the wheels got here off their innings and two-time champions Kolkata, cruising at 91-0 within the eleventh over, ultimately completed on 165-9.
Shardul Thakur (3-38) dismissed Iyer and Nitish Rana in the identical over, and left-arm spinner Ravindra Jadeja additionally bowled a two-wicket over to tear the guts out of Kolkata’s center order.
All-rounder Jadeja additionally took two gorgeous catches within the deep as Chennai, who missed the playoff for the primary time final yr, went on to assert the title.
“We shuffled a number of gamers, we used them in numerous methods,” Dhoni mentioned of their turnaround after accumulating the trophy. “It was vital to take duty and we had match-winners coming recreation after recreation and performing.”