Chennai Super Kings were convincing winners in the 2019 Indian Premier League Qualifier 2, beating Delhi Capitals by six wickets to move on to a record eighth final on Friday.
MS Dhoni’s side will come up against familiar foes in Mumbai Indians in the showpiece event on Sunday after fifties from opening pair Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson helped chase down a target of 148 in Visakhapatnam.
Having elected to bowl, Dwayne Bravo led the way with figures of 2-19 in his four overs while the likes of Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja also picked up two wickets each.
Only Rishabh Pant looked likely to deliver for Delhi and top-scored with 38 off 25 deliveries.
After a slow start to Chennai’s innings, Du Plessis, who made 50 off 39 balls, went on the front foot and Watson soon followed.
The duo’s efforts at the top of the order made for a comfortable victory with Ambati Rayudu’s unbeaten 20 steering the side home with an over and six wickets to spare.
DHAWAN DONE BY SPIN AGAIN
Despite finding some form in the second half of the season, Dhawan has been troubled by spin throughout the tournament and Friday was no different. The opener has struggled to pick the spinners and has been dismissed by one eight times in IPL 2019.
Dhawan is in particular discomfort when the turn is away from him and so when Harbhajan Singh was introduced into the attack as early as the fourth over, the only question was – why didn’t he bowl the second?
The veteran off-spinner has always been comfortable with the new ball and had dismissed Dhawan just nine days earlier in the penultimate round of the league phase. Once again, the left-handed batsman was unable to read the turn and was caught behind trying to cut the wrong ‘un.
It was only the second ball he faced against Harbhajan.
UNCOVINCING WATSON
The scorecard makes good reading for Watson. Having scored 50 off just 32 balls, it would appear he even overshadowed his opening partner Du Plessis. In reality though, this was another in a long line of streaky knocks from the Australian this season. Even his 96 earlier in the season was littered by a few lucky breaks.
It was only his second half-century of the campaign at the 16th time of asking with his average of 19.87 speaking volumes. Early on, while Du Plessis was racing to his 50, Watson was struggling to reach double figures.
Eventually, he had to accelerate and when batting on 17 in the ninth over, his slog against Amit Mishra went straight up only to fortuitously fall in no-man’s land.
Yes, he did manage to connect well with a few attempts, against Kheemo Paul in particular, but those shots only served to paper over the cracks.
Watson remains a batsman desperately out of form and those expecting a repeat of his 2018 final heroics, when he scored an unbeaten 117 off 57 balls, in this edition are likely to be left disappointed.
Shane Watson today:
— #ICCWCUP19 (@ICCWCUP19) May 10, 2019
First 20 balls - 18 runs (SR - 90.00)
Next 11 balls - 32 runs (SR - 290.91)#CSKvDC
-#GM_KaMI
ROUND FOUR
CSK’s victory sets up another mouth-watering clash against the two titans of the Indian Premier League. The final in Hyderabad will be the fourth time Chennai Super Kings and Mumbai Indians face-off in the showpiece event.
At this point, clashes between the two sides have become iconic. Mumbai have beaten Chennai twice in the finals if 2013 and 2015 after Dhoni’s side had drawn first blood in 2010. Both have three titles to their names and will battle on Sunday for the right to be recognised as the most successful side in IPL history.
The fact that Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai side have beaten CSK three times already this season – both league matches and Qualifier 1 – only makes this encounter all the more enticing.
It will be Mumbai Indians vs Chennai Super Kings in IPL 2019 final. #IPL2019 #IPLFinal pic.twitter.com/8oMw0WVTGC
— CricTracker (@Cricketracker) May 10, 2019
