IPL 2018: Faf du Plessis plays a stunner and other talking points as Chennai Super Kings seal spot in the finals

Ashish Peter - Senior Writer 21:27 22/05/2018
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    • Du Plesssis' unbeaten 67 pulled off a stunning win. Image - IPL/Twitter.

    Chennai Super Kings marched into the final of the IPL with a thrilling two-wicket victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad at Mumbai in the first Qualifier.

    Having restricted the Sunrisers to 139-7 in their 20 overs, the Super Kings attained victory with five balls to spare in a dramatic clash at the Wankhede stadium.

    Here, we look at the talking points from the closely-fought encounter.

    SUNRISERS’ HORROR START

    In a high-stake clash of a qualifier, Sunrisers Hyderabad’s innings got off to the worst possible start. In-form opener Shikhar Dhawan was bowled off the very first delivery of the match after he attempted to a cut an in-swinger from Deepak Chahar.

    Skipper Kane Williamson had then just started steadying the ship with some flowing boundaries before Shreevats Goswami was caught and bowled by the fired up Lungi Ngidi in the fourth over.

    That abysmal start soon turned into a full-blown crisis when Williamson and Shakib Al Hasan were dismissed in innocuous fashion to reduce Hyderabad to 50-4. Both the batsmen gloved leg-side deliveries to MS Dhoni behind the stumps.

    BRATHWAITE CAMEO SALVAGES SUNRISERS INNINGS

    When Yusuf Pathan became the sixth Hyderabad wicket to fall, Sunrisers were rocking at 88-6 at the end of the 14th over. With both time and wickets running out, it looked like Williamson’s men would have to settle for a subpar total.

    That is when their decision to stick with West Indies all-rounder Carlos Brathwaite in place of Alex Hales paid off immensely. The 29-year-old from Barbados was watchful at the start of his innings but launched into the death bowling with some mighty blows. Brathwaite took a particular liking to Shardul Thakur’s medium pace as he smashed the seamer for four huge sixes on his way to an unbeaten 43 from 29 deliveries.

    It was the all-rounder’s innings which was responsible for the Sunrisers posting a challenging total eventually.

    CHENNAI GET OFF TO EQUALLY HORRIBLE START

    Chennai Super Kings’ start to their chase of 140 runs mirrored the Sunrisers innings. Like Dhawan, opener Shane Watson fell for a duck in the very first over to Bhuvneshwar Kumar. The innings had just started gaining some momentum before Siddharth Kaul picked up two wickets in two balls to send back the in-form Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu in the fourth over. Both the batsmen were clean-bowled with Raina missing one around his legs while Rayudu fell prey to a peach of an out-swinger that took the top of his off-stump.

    The Sunrisers’ bowlers turned the screw on Chennai and when Rashid Khan bowled MS Dhoni through the gates, the equilibrium of the match had shifted completely towards the fielding side.

    DU PLESSIS’ STUNNER WINS IT FOR CHENNAI

    As Chennai Super Kings’ innings started disintegrating, they needed someone to play a blinder of a knock similar to that of Brathwaite. Luckily, they got just that from South Africa’s Faf du Plessis.

    The Proteas skipper was circumspect as those around him continued to falter but he changed gears just when it was needed to pull off an unlikely victory for the Super Kings. With 43 runs required from three overs for a Chennai win, Brathwaite went from hero to zero as Du Plessis took him for one six and three boundaries in the 18th over. The South African reached his fifty off 37 balls before he sealed the win for his side with a straight six.

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