Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) knocked out resurgent Delhi Capitals in Qualifier 2 at Dr. Y.S. Rajasekhara Reddy ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium,Visakhapatnam on Friday evening (May 10). The match remained in Chennai’s favour for most parts and they trounced over the opposition by 6 wickets to enter their 8th IPL final; 4th to be played versus MI and third consecutive final appearance since 2015 (having missed 2016 and 2017 editions respectively).
“The kind of response the boys gave was brilliant. You’ll go for runs, miss a few catches, but it’s important to come back strong. The way we batted to chase down 140+ was really nice. That’s what the 7:30 start does, the groundstaff feel obliged to water it, and it’s a little tacky initially – making it difficult to score. The spinners got more turn because of that. The bowling effort was brilliant, and we kept it in the right areas, not allowing Delhi to get a big score. The timing of the wickets was very important because it was difficult for new batsmen to come and hit the big shots straightaway,” stated MS Dhoni after the match.
“I think the credit needs to go to the spinners: the captain only asks them that I will use you at this point of time. When they get the ball, it’s up to them. Experience counts, but they have to do the hard yards to stay fit for 45-50 days and be at their best and playing in hot conditions. We are happy we haven’t had many injuries (other than the players at the start) and thanks to the bowling department for that – we are here because of them. I would have preferred the openers to get a few more runs because in knockout games, there’s no reason to go after the bowlers when the RRR is below six. If the openers had stayed and done the finishing after the hard yards. Why not stay till the end and get the runs under your belt (from the openers)? That would have been better, different captains have different views about that, but I’m happy to take the win anyway,” added the wicketkeeper-batsman.
CSK will now meet MI in the summit clash on May 12. They trail them by 1-2 in overall final meetings.
