Chennai Super Kings and Delhi Capitals are locking horns in Qualifier 1 of the Indian Premier League 2021 in Dubai International Stadium. DC has won the last four games between the two sides and will try to win tonight and book their seat in the final.
MS Dhoni won the toss and opted to bowl first keeping the trend of the stadium and CSK’s performance in mind. Rishabh Pant wanted to bowl first as well. He named one change in the playing XI as Ripal Patel made way for Tom Curran. CSK were unchanged from the last game.
Also Read: Robin Uthappa turns the clock back with 20 runs off Avesh Khan over, watch
Delhi Capitals got off to a flying start thanks to their star openers Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw. Dhawan got out Josh Hazlewood in the third over but by then Shaw had gone off to a dashing start. Shreyas Iyer had a poor outing as he scored only 1 run and played 8 balls for it.
Meanwhile, Shaw looked like a man on a mission and didn’t let CSK bowlers settle down. He scored boundaries at will and scored fifty in just 27 balls. He got out after scoring 60 runs in 34 balls where he hit seven fours and three sixes. A flurry of wickets put DC in a tricky position as they were 80/4 in 10 overs.
Shimron Hetmyer and Rishabh Pant took the charge from there on and shared 83 runs for the fifth wicket. Hetmyer got out after scoring 37 runs in 24 balls but Pant was determined to take DC to a good total. DC skipper scored an unbeaten 51 runs in 35 balls and took Delhi Capitals’ total to 172/5 in 20 overs.
In response, CSK got off to a poor start as they lost their star opener Faf du Plessis in the first over as Anrich Nortje bowled a brilliant inswinger. Robin Uthappa walked out at number three and started showing his batting skills which were not seen for a long time. He smashed DC bowlers for fun and scored a fine fifty while putting on a 110-run stand with Ruturaj Gaikwad for the second wicket.
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Uthappa got out after scoring 63 runs in 44 balls, featuring seven fours and two sixes. Shardul Thakur’s promotion to number four failed as he bagged a golden duck. Meanwhile, Gaikwad kept scoring runs and crossed the 600-run mark in the IPL 2021 and scored another fifty.
He got out after scoring 70 runs in 50 balls which features five fours and two sixes. MS Dhoni came to finish the match after Gaikwad’s wicket. Dhoni started his innings with a six on the second ball which reduced the equations to 13 runs off six balls. Pant gave the ball to Tom Curran despite having an over of Kagiso Rabada.
Curran dismissed Moeen Ali on the first ball and gave good hope for a win. However, Dhoni – the finisher was on display today as he scored three consecutive boundaries to book CSK’s place in the final of the IPL 2021 with a four-wicket win in qualifier 1.
See how Twitter reacted to this game;
Anddddd the king is back ❤️the greatest finisher ever in the game. Made me jump Outta my seat once again tonight.@msdhoni
— Virat Kohli (@imVkohli) October 10, 2021
Once a finsher ,always a finsher 💛
It's our moment ❤️🥺😭
Congratulations to all cskians 😍
Mahiiiiiiiiiiiiiii❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️#Csk #CSKvDC #mahi #WhistlePodu pic.twitter.com/aYL1j1JbVL— ♡priya♡ (@priyaa_25) October 10, 2021
Marvellous Mahi's finishing touches in Dubai https://t.co/DqpsX9sFm7
— Cricket Videos (@CricketVideos15) October 10, 2021
THE BEST FINISHER FOR A REASON!
YET ANOTHER IPL FINALS FOR MSD & HIS MEN!#IPL2021 #CSKvDC— Disney+ Hotstar (@DisneyPlusHS) October 10, 2021
MSD has lightened up India @msdhoni @ChennaiIPL @sportstigerapp #CSKvsDC pic.twitter.com/UZvDz8jA3U
— Monty Panesar (@MontyPanesar) October 10, 2021
Chennai Super Kings in,
2008 ➜ Finalists
2009 ➜ Fourth
2010 ➜ Champions
2011 ➜ Champions
2012 ➜ Finalists
2013 ➜ Finalists
2014 ➜ Third
2015 ➜ Finalists
2018 ➜ Champions
2019 ➜ Finalists
2020 ➜ Seventh
2021 ➜ Finalists*What is this franchise 🤯#IPL2021 pic.twitter.com/KOKTMbiLPZ
— ESPNcricinfo (@ESPNcricinfo) October 10, 2021
Wow what a match. My heart goes out to the young #DC team. Hard luck boys & all the best for the next game. Tonight belonged to #CSK. #Dhoni the finisher leading from the front, inspiring his players to give their best & keeping his cool at all times 👍 #DCvsCSK @IPL #Finisher
— Preity G Zinta (@realpreityzinta) October 10, 2021
Pant should have still trusted Rabada to deliver here. He was still the better bowler for this situation than Tom Curran and it's not like he leaked 50 runs in his first three overs of this match. Amateurish mistake!#DCvsCSK | #IPL2021
— Prasenjit Dey (@CricPrasen) October 10, 2021
Happy to be proven wrong. What a chase from #CSK First Gaikwad & Uthappa and then @msdhoni rolling back the years to produce a classic final over heist. Great scenes, and #CSK through to yet another #IPL final 👏🏽🇮🇳🏏 https://t.co/eBHd3S0ZLQ
— Nikesh Rughani (@NikeshRughani) October 10, 2021
Woohoo !!! #CSKvsDC #whistlepodu pic.twitter.com/KSrg18MKza
— dulquer salmaan (@dulQuer) October 10, 2021
Whistlepodu! Sensational finish by #CSK to win match and reach final. When Gaikwad fell, CSK unlikely winners. Dhoni coming ahead of Jadeja seemed folly he disproved all skeptics by finishing match in a flourish. #DC not out of race yet but #CSK now certainly faves for title!
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) October 10, 2021
Rabada not bowling the last over. Still can’t understand the logic #dc
— Irfan Pathan (@IrfanPathan) October 10, 2021
Nothing is bigger than “Self-belief”. The man reminds everyone yet again, who is the best finisher and why! #CSKvsDC #Qualifier1 #IPL2O21 #MSDhoni
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha) October 10, 2021
@msdhoni forever ❤️🙏 @ChennaiIPL what a team 👏👏😊
— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3) October 10, 2021
Captains leading their team to most #IPL finals:
9 – Dhoni
5 – Rohit
2 – Gambhir #IPL2021 #CSKvsDC #Dhoni— Bharath Seervi (@SeerviBharath) October 10, 2021
And Dhoni finishes off in style !
One request, can someone from @ChennaiIPL please go and give that little girl who was crying a little chocolate/gift ? Or a pic with MSD maybe 🙂 PLEASE 🙏
Congratulations @msdhoni https://t.co/qsA6lwYUi6— Ridhima Pathak (@PathakRidhima) October 10, 2021
Felt like we were going back in time! #MSD #CSKvsDC #CSK
— RK (@RK_sports) October 10, 2021
Om Finishaya Namaha !
Great win from Chennai. Ruturaj Top class, Uthappa classy and Dhoni showing how important temparement is. Great win for @ChennaiIPL and what a fightback to reach the finals after the show last season.— Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) October 10, 2021
MS Dhoni is the greatest @ChennaiIPL never bet against him. See you in the final he says👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻.
— Ian Raphael Bishop (@irbishi) October 10, 2021
You absolute legend MSD @ChennaiIPL 👍
— Niall John O Brien (@niallnobiobrien) October 10, 2021
Wasn’t this a remastered vintage classic in high definition. First Robin, then Dhoni… Old habits die hard .. old will forever stay gold, especially when it’s in @ChennaiIPL ‘s locker.. 9th final !! What a game ! #CSKvsDC
— Jatin Sapru (@jatinsapru) October 10, 2021