The league stage was done and dusted and it was the time for the playoffs in IPL 2018. It was the clash of the table toppers as Sunrisers Hyderabad and Chennai Super Kings clashed in the first Qualifier. The encounter lived up to the expectations and the 2 heavyweights produced a thrilling contest that ended in the favor of the yellows.
MS Dhoni, the skipper of CSK, won the crucial toss and opted to field first. Deepak Chahar got his side to the dream start as he castled the SRH opener Shikhar Dhawan off the very first ball of the innings. Kane Williamson walked in and began in 4th gear as he struck 3 back to back boundaries to Chahar.
The other opener Shreevats Goswami couldn’t contribute much and became a victim of Lungi Ngidi. Shardul Thakur then bagged the prized scalp of Williamson for 24 in the 5th over to leave SRH in stutters at 36/3. The bowlers applied continuous pressure that resulted in wickets at regular intervals.
Shakib Al Hasan and Manish Pandey fell cheaply while Yusuf Pathan hung in there for a while. But when Dwayne Bravo removed Pathan for 24 in the 15th overs, SRH were left reeling at 88/6. Just then, Carlos Brathwaite played an important knock and scored 43 runs off 29 balls that included a four and 4 sixes that propelled his side to a fighting 139/7.
In reply, Bhuvneshwar Kumar accounted for the wicket of Shane Watson in the first over for a duck. It was the perfect start for SRH in the pursuit of defending another low total. Suresh Raina threw his bat around and collected some boundaries in the attempt to ease the pressure. But Siddharth Kaul, not only removed him but also sent back Ambati Rayudu without scoring in the 4th over.
The opener Faf du Plessis was witnessing the falls from the other end as he held his fort firmly. At 24/3, the stage was set for an MS Dhoni special. The wicketkeeper-batsman tried to settle in by soaking in the pressure but Rashid Khan delivered an absolute peach to dismiss Dhoni for 9 in the 8th over.
The leg-spinner added to his tally by bagging the wicket of Bravo in the 12th over as CSK was in a terrible position at 57/5. To make the matters worse, Ravindra Jadeja fell prey to Sandeep Sharma as the side was pushed deeper into trouble for 62/6 in the 13th over. The target of 140 seemed distant at that point with wickets falling like nine pins.
But Faf du Plessis kept the side in the hunt and when 43 runs were required from 3 overs, he went after Brathwaite and gathered 20 runs off the over. Shardul Thakur accepted a couple of lucky boundaries in the penultimate over which brought the equation down to 6 from the last over. Faf smashed the first ball of the last over out of the park to seal the game for his side and reserve a berth in the final. He remained unbeaten at 67 from 42 balls that included 5 fours and 4 sixes.
Match Summary
Chennai Super Kings won the toss and opted to bowl first
Sunrisers Hyderabad:Â 139/7 in 20 overs
Carlos Brathwaite 43* (29), Kane Williamson 24 (15)
Dwayne Bravo 25/2 (4), Ravindra Jadeja 13/1 (4)
Chennai Super Kings:Â 140/8 in 19.1 overs
Faf du Plessis 67* (42), Suresh Raina 22 (13)
Rashid Khan 11/2 (4), Sandeep Sharma 30/2 (3)
Chennai Super Kings won by 2 wickets
Player of the Match: Faf du Plessis
Here’s how Twitter reacted to the thrilling Qualifier
Carlos Braithwait bowling the 18th over. Kaul bowling the 19th ahead of Bhuvneshwar. Rare captaincy errors from one of the finest captains in the #IPL #SRHvCSK
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/rgcricket/status/998979217353162753
What a finish!!!
CSK needed 43 runs off last 3 overs with 3 wickets remaining & this is what they did:
1 4 6 4 1+RO 4
4 4 1 wide 1 2 4
6Won with 5 balls to spare!
Narrowest win for a chasing side in Playoffs
CSK reach IPL Final for record 7th time.
##SRHvCSK #CSKvSRH #IPL2018— Rajneesh Gupta (@rgcricket) May 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/SirJadejaaaa/status/998978852171923458
Virat Kohli is a great batsman, but he will never match MS Dhoni as a captain and I don't think any other Indian player from the current generation will.#MSDhoni #SRHvCSK #CSKvSRH #CSK
— Asjad Nazir (@asjadnazir) May 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/hankypanty/status/998976820698632192
Individuals can win you matches, but only a team can win you championships, when one fails the other pulls up , @ChennaiIPL doing just that…and not the first time #IPL2018 #SRHvCSK
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) May 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/cricketaakash/status/998976026725105664
CSK's great escapes in last three overs:
47 off 2.5 vs MI, Wankhede
41 off 2.5 vs KKR, Chennai
44 off 2.4 vs RCBm Bengaluru
43 off 2.1 vs SRH, Wankhede#SRHvCSK #IPL2018— Deepu Narayanan (@deeputalks) May 22, 2018
MS Dhoni in #IPL finals for the 8th time – the most by any player!
2008 – CSK
2010 – CSK
2011 – CSK
2012 – CSK
2013 – CSK
2015 – CSK
2017 – RPS
2018 – CSK#SRHvCSK#IPL2018 #WhistlePodu— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) May 22, 2018
Mumbai Indians are the only side to win an #IPL title after losing 1st qualifier.
They did it twice in 2013 and 2017#SRHvCSK#IPL2018— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) May 22, 2018
What an innings from @faf1307 , on a surface where everyone struggled , an exceptional innings. @ChennaiIPL is truly a champion. Romba nalla victory #SRHvCSK
— Mohammad Kaif (@MohammadKaif) May 22, 2018
#CSKvSRH Shradul Thakur need to learn a lot how to bowl in depth overs and to be clever
— Vinod Kambli (@vinodkambli349) May 22, 2018
Fafulous!!!!!! Whattey Time to come back to form, Sensible Knock. You Beauty !!! And Yeah. Thank You Dhool Takkar. #SRHvCSK #WhistlePodu
— Prabhu (@Cricprabhu) May 22, 2018
https://twitter.com/hankypanty/status/998974809370439680
CSK will play their ninth final of T20 cricket on the upcoming Sunday – the joint most for any team along with Sialkot Stallions. #SRHvCSK
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman) May 22, 2018
When it comes to winning blinders , No team can come close to CSK. What a FAB inning by FAF, Congratulations cskians, see you in the finals #SRHvCSK
— Sumit Kadel (@SumitkadeI) May 22, 2018
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