Morkel has finished it off! Raina needn't run any more. Similar ploy, makes room, Vettori follows hi, but misses the length, and he has slogged it over midwicket for six. Kohli stands stunned at the fence. Raina is elated and congratulates Morkel. Ashwin comes onto the field too, with his bandaged head. Bollinger breaks into a dance
So Chennai are through to the final. A warning for whoever faces them: they haven't lost a match in Chennai this year. Deserving winners tonight after they refused to give up. Bangalore get another shot at making the finals. Do join us for the Eliminator tomorrow, the equivalent of a quarter-final. Okay bye
Presentation
Suresh Raina is MoM. He says: "It was an important game for us, I knew I had to do well. God has been really kind to me. We executed the plans really well. I was not thinking about the ramps, just play my game, and play the big ones when the ball was in the zone. I was just looking to play till the 20th over."
MS Dhoni: "It was a difficult target, but we have been in similar situations, and we have the belief that we can win these games. We kept believing that we could do it, but you can say I was not 100% confident. We know as a team we have the firepower to chase anything. This was a good scenario where the set batsmen kept on going, and the others chipped around him."
Daniel Vettori first: "You do get these guys. You loom abck and say this is a great game of cricket. That innings from Suresh took it away. You can never think the game is in the bag with this size of boundaries. But we expect to bowl a little bit better than we did. We can focus on the loss, or look at the good things. Unfortunately we didn't defend it, but a few guys bowled well too."
What a lovely chase this has been for Chennai. They were down and out, chasing 12-13-14 an over for the last eight-nine overs, and they refused to go away. Raina finishes with a cramp-ridden 73 off 50, Morkel smashed 28 off 10. How quickly redemption has come for him: he went for 19 off the 19th over, and has now finished the game off with the bat. Bangalore lost their nerve in the end, but this is what Chennai always do well, they somehow play the better cricket in tougher, bigger moments. Bravo does the bhangra inside the dressing room. They are in the final, Bangalore get another shot when they play the winner of the match between Mumbai and Kolkata
Raina is cramping again. Vettori has a chat with de Villiers. They need a dot from somewhere. CSK physio is out. Raina gets back on his feet. But he says he can't run. Taufel asks him, "Are you sure you can't run?" Rauf says, "He has been running okay." Taufel says only three balls to go, run yourself. Raina agrees. Rauf says, "Brave man."
Drama. Gets the yorker right, and they shout for two right for the word go. He loses his bat while turning, and even without the bat Morkel makes a swimming-pool dive to make the second
Morkel makes room, Vettori follows him, but Morkel gets it wide enough of long-on for a crucial four. Nothing wrong with the ball, missed the yorker by inches
Dan makes more adjustments with the field
yorker-length, flicked away into the leg side, brings Morkel on strike
Well, well, well. Dan the Man has taken it upon himself now. Twelve required off the last over. Left-arm spinner, bowling into the left-hand batsmen who are on rampage. Ray Jennings drinks his enrgy drink at the sidelines. Vettori, de Villiers and Gayle have a chat in the middle. Raina adjusts his gloves. Vettori will cut down the angle, and bowl round the stumps. Deep field set on the leg side
full toss, hit down to long-on for one, sets up the last over beautifully
Low full toss,, crunched away over midwicket. Chennai have their noses ahead now. Rains is playing a beauty here. He has hurt every loose delivery here
Third man in, fine leg in
Kolhi has saved runs again. Length ball, muscled down the ground, and Kolhi makes the diving save at long-on. Doesn't even concede the second
Zaheer and Vettori have a conference with Aravind. proud moment for Communists. All lefties here. Tension. Bangalore are feeling it
Morkel is paying back in kind here. Low full toss, smacked over long-off. Chennai are not going away that easily
slower ball, pitched on a length, and Morkel picks it early, and lofts it over long-on. This is what Kohli did to Morkel in the 19th over. Will he get his own back?
starts off with a wide yorker, just the single to sweeper-cover
Thirty-three required off the last two, and Vettori has kept the last over for himself. And there are two left-hand batsmen batting, so that makes it even more interesting. Aravind, another left-arm bowler, to bowl the 19th
Just 19 off Gayle's four
low full toss, just the single to deep midwicket
misses his line, big wide down the leg side, de Villiers does well with the collection
comes forward to take this on the full, but gets just the single to long-on
that's a toe-chasing yorker, 102ks from two steps. Dot ball
in the block hole again, just the single
Gives Raina his own dose. Pulls out of the delivery
low full toss, hit back to Gayle. All Criss with Chris
full, on off, pushed for one. Raina on strike now
Gayle has one left. Vettori has one. Aravind has two. Three to go. Thirty-eight required. Gayle to bowl out
Full toss, and Raina is turning it on here. Lofted way into the stands behind the midwicket boundary. Chennai are still alive. They refuse to go away. They are the Australia of IPL. They make you beat them to pulp. They never contribute to their defeats
yorker, can't do any better with it than get the single to third man
Albie Morkel is the new man. Instructions from Raina as he walks in. They didn't cross over last time, so Morkel on strike
He has found long-on! Bangalore pull Chennai back once again. Low full toss, Dhoni tries the helicopter shot again, slightly late into the shot, and it goes off the bottom part of the bat straight to long-on. Mithun is safe there
Wankhede Stadium, Mumbai | |
Toss | Chennai Super Kings, elected to field first |
Series | |
Season | 2011 |
Player Of The Match | |
Series result | Chennai Super Kings advanced |
Hours of play (local time) | 20.00 start, First Session 20.00-21.20, Interval 21.20-21.40, Second Session 21.40-23.00 |
Match days | 24 May 2011 - night (20-over match) |
Umpires | |
TV Umpire | |
Reserve Umpire | |
Match Referee |
Over 20 • CSK 177/4
Super Kings won by 6 wickets (with 2 balls remaining)