Blazing Dhoni helps Chennai qualify

A pumped-up MS Dhoni again showed why he's one of the great finishers in the game, blasting 25 runs in the final two overs to maintain Chennai Super Kings' record of making the semi-finals in every IPL.

Punjab held the edge for most of the match, and going into the last two overs Chennai needed 29, a tough task even with sluggers Dhoni and Albie Morkel at the crease. The penultimate over, by Theron, started with two murderous hits for four from Dhoni, feasting on the length deliveries offered. He looked to repeat on the third ball, but a thick edge flew high and fast to wicketkeeper Kumar Sangakkara who managed to get a glove on it. Theron kept it to singles for the rest of the over, leaving Chennai a still taxing 16 off the final over.

Irfan Pathan was tasked with bowling the last over. The first delivery was almost a yorker, but Dhoni managed to power it past long-off for four. The next was a slower ball that he top-edged, but it swirled and landed short of Piyush Chawla for two and Chennai were two runs closer. The match was effectively sealed off the third delivery: a monstrous hit over wide long-on sent the ball out of the ground, reduced the equation to four off three. Dhoni finished it off with another clobber over long-on, and the famously cool captain let out a roar and then punched the side of the helmet as the adrenaline flowed and his team-mates raced out from the dug-out in joy.