Indian Premier League T20 Cricket - Finals - CSK Ends KKR's Fine Run To Lift The Trophy

Hello Sports Lovers,

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Here I am writing for one last time about this year's IPL as we have the winners as the last match of this year's IPL was played last night!!!

Well, before we go into further details, I would like to thank all those who have been supporting my Sports and other blogs continuously without any condition and I can't be thanking enough to you all for that.

Coming back to the IPL finals between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders, it was the usual scene of one of the multi title winner winning the title yet again, but just for a change, it was CSK instead of Mumbai Indians and the team which got lost, KKR is a multi title winner too!!!

Coming into the final, KKR had the momentum and fire power with them as against the inconsistent Chennai as they had lost 3 matches on the trot before winning the First qualifier to move straight into final.

But, KKR's wins were all with their strong spin unit performing well to restrict the opponents mostly in the slow and low bounce pitches in Sharjah.

When they played the final in Dubai, the same spin unit couldn't emulate their performance and also, Chennai had done their homework to face the likes of Varun Chakravarthy, Sunil Narine, Shakib Al Hasan and Lockie Ferguson as they posted mammoth total after being asked to bat by KKR captain Eoin Morgan

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Unlike KKR, most of the Chennai players had great season and it was their opening pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf Du Plessis who were one of the consistent opening pair in this IPL and once again, they gave a good start adding 61 for the First wicket.

Ruturaj has be sensational throughout this season, but, it was Faf who after being dropped early on, made it count by scoring 80+ runs and batting deep and ensuring there is no collapse for CSK.

What was more pleasing is the rise of Robin Uthappa at Third position as he blasted away to 31 runs from 15 balls with 3 huge Sixes and Faf and him added another 60+ runs.

in the end, Moeen Ali came in and scored quickfire 37 from 20 balls as Chennai finished with 192 runs for the loss of 3 wickets.

The bowling unit of KKR couldn't repeat their awesome show in the final as they were all carted to all the corners of the ground with only Sunil Narine returning some good figures from his 4 overs.

Varun Chakravarthy, Shakib Al Hassan, Lockie Ferguson were all teared apart in that total.

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When KKR started the chase, the equation for them was to score at almost 10 runs per over and their opening pair of Shubman Gill and Venkatesh Iyer rose to the occasion to continue their good form as they added 91 from 10 overs and were almost in line of the required run rate.

But, the back to back wickets by Shardul Thakur, who is celebrating his Birthday today, dented KKR's chase as, Venkatesh Iyer and Nitish Rana were sent back off successive deliveries.

And that started the parade of KKR batsmen as the next 5 batsmen returned with scores of 2, 4, 9, 0 and 2 respectively and none of the KKR batsmen could make an impact after the opening pair's good show.

It may be harsh to say, but KKR's change of batting position of in form Rahul Tripathi from Third position to Eigth and sending in out of form Nitish Rana was something, they may regret as the momentum was lost and the wicket of Nitish Rana started that collapse.

In the end, KKR's tailenders Lockie Ferguson and Shivam Mavi gave them respectable total as the duo added close to 40 runs as KKR completed the chase with 27 runs short.

For CSK, all the 5 bowlers chipped in with wickets and there as no dependency on one particular player for them.

KKR, had been good until that final as they achieved something most of us were thinking impossible for them as the inclusion of Venkatesh Iyer seemed like the start of turnaround for KKR as he and Shubaman gave them great starts in almost all the matches including the final.

As winning captain MS Dhoni rightly said, KKR were the most deserving team to win, but their flopping middle order and a rare failure by their established bowling unit made them suffer in the final.

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As a RCB fan, there was consolation for RCb with Harshal Patel retaining the purple cap for taking most wickets and he was also the Player of the Series along with being Most Valuable Player.

Congratulations to team CSK and MS Dhoni and his players and hard luck to KKR inspite of playing so well and losing out.

With mega auction slated at the beginning of next year, we might see many reshuffles and we may not see many of the players coming back to IPL due to their age, form or whatever reason may be.

It's also clear that, RCB will be starting their campaign under new captain since Virat Kohli has made it clear that, he wanted to step down from captaincy after this year's IPL.

No doubt, many will say, Kohli wasn't as good captain in his tactics, but, I feel, did right within given circumstances with whatever team he had at his service and given the pitch conditions back in India, RCB's bowlers were always at receiving end especially at their home ground in Bangalore.

Hoping for a good team selection, or should I say a better than the current awesome team by RCB to win the title in the next year.

Thanking all the players who entertained us inspite of CoVid restrictions and risks.

With IPL coming to an end, the focus will shift to the T20 Cricket World Cup as it starts from tomorrow!!!! Yes, there is not much time gap between tournaments, thanks to the time lost due to Corona CoVid outburst!!!!

That's all guys, I hope you enjoyed these IPL related blogs by me :)

Wishing you all a great day :)

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