Jubilant fans 'Whistle Podu' as MS Dhoni's CSK reigns supreme in IPL final once again

In a reversal of fortunes from last year, where they barely managed to escape the wooden spoon, Chennai Super Kings reigned supreme on the night of the IPL final. The game was getting away from them halfway through the innings but Dhoni marshalled his troops to a remarkable comeback in the 2nd half with the ball, led by the likes of Shardul Thakur and Ravindra Jadeja. 

The day began with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf Du Plessis once again providing the Men in Yellow the perfect start they needed for the big stage. Gaikwad, as usual, targetted the spinners in the powerplay and laid his hands on the Orange Cap.

Du Plessis, on the other hand, took command after the departure of his opening partner. He got support from Robin Uthappa, who went berserk against his former team with his quickfire cameo. Du Plessis kept the scoreboard ticking from one end, scoring 86 runs, and fell short by just 2 runs in the race to take the Orange Cap away from his teammate.

Nonetheless, with the help of Moeen Ali's fireworks towards the business end, CSK posted a mammoth 192 on the board. Shivam Mavi and Sunil Narine were the pick of the bowlers for the Knight Riders, while all the other bowlers struggled to get themselves going.

KKR's innings goes on a downward slope

When KKR came out came out to bat in the 2nd innings, Venkatesh Iyer, who has been a revelation for KKR, continued his brilliant run on the night of the finals. The luck was with the KKR openers, who were handed a lifeline each, with Iyer being dropped on 0 by Dhoni and Gill being saved by the spider-cam.

They both made the most of their luck, stitching a magnificent partnership of 91 runs, and laid the perfect foundation for the batters to follow. However, Shardul Thakur, who has a knack for picking up two wickets in one over, did it again by sending back Iyer and Nitish Rana to bring the game back into balance.

Very soon, Jadeja followed with a couple of strikes of his own, getting rid of Dinesh Karthik and Shakib Al-Hasan, which meant that the onus was on KKR skipper Eoin Morgan to rescue the team. However, his woeful form continued and he perished attempting to hit a six.

Shivam Mavi and Lockie Ferguson tried their best to hit a few shots, but it was a little too late. For Chennai Super Kings, Shardul Thakur ended with three wickets, justifying his selection for the upcoming T20 World Cup. 

CSK vs KKR: Fans react as MS Dhoni leads CSK to 4th IPL title 

Image: BCCI/IPL