Chennai Super Kings (CSK) took on the Delhi Capitals (DC) in Qualifier 1 on Oct 10 in Dubai where the winner was guaranteed a spot in the IPL Championship final on Oct 15.
CSK stole victory in the final over as their iconic captain MS Dhoni hit three boundaries to take his side through to the finals.
CSK are now once again the most popular team in the IPL after making it to their 9th IPL Championship final in 12 editions of the IPL.
CSK were banned for two of those editions, which shows how consistent and remarkable the men in yellow have been under the leadership of MS Dhoni.
Sky Sports Cricket
They had a terrible showing in the UAE in 2020 and were eliminated in the playoffs. CSK management decided to back MS Dhoni to lead the squad once more in the 2021 IPL and he hasn’t let them down. Qualifier 1 between CSK and DC went down to the wire as both sides put up a great fight.
DC batted first and got runs at the top of the order from Prithvi Shaw and at the end as captain Rishabh Pant and West Indian Shimron Hetmyer played well to take DC to 172. CSK lost the experienced Faf du Plessis for 1 but Ruturaj Gaikwad (70) and Robin Uthappa (63) kept them in the hunt. MS Dhoni came ahead of Ravindra Jadeja and once again showed why he was once labelled the best finisher in the world.
Dhoni scored 18 runs of just 6 balls to take CSK home with 2 balls to spare. This win will give CSK immense confidence as they wait to see who they will play in the finals.
DC will now proceed to Qualifier 2 which takes place on Oct 13 in Sharjah. DC will play the winner of the Eliminator between Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) and Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) which takes place on Oct 11 in Sharjah. RCB go in as slight betting favorites as Bet365 has them at 4/5 while KKR has odds of 1/1.
We agree with the bookmaker and think RCB will come out with a win as they look to win their first IPL Championship. Whether DC faces KKR or RCB in Qualifier 2, they will be confident that they can win and have another crack at CSK in the 2021 IPL Championship final.
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