Death. Taxes. Chennai Super Kings in IPL final. The men in yellow are in their eighth IPL final out of ten editions. It's a staggering record in a hard-fought league where rules are designed to ensure teams stay evenly matched. But team spirit is something you can't put a cap on. It hasn't been an easy road for CSK this year despite spending almost the entire season at the top of the points table. Their top order batting was in great form last year with at least one batsman firing in every game. In 2018, Rayudu, Watson, Raina and Dhoni all scored an aggregate of more than 400 runs with an average close to 40 or above. This year only Dhoni has managed to score consistent runs and aggregate over 400 runs for the season. Bar the skipper and Faf du Plessis, the batting averages are hovering around 20. It was the batting that had let them down in the first qualifier against Mumbai Indians where they could score just 131 batting first. In a big knock out, against top teams, you can't hope to go too far without runs on the board. Before the start of the second qualifier, the critics had started wondering how long can CSK go without a change of personnel. The biggest failure of the season was perhaps the opening pair, in particular, Shane Watson. After the previous loss, Dhoni had made it clear that these are the men they have backed all season to do the job, and they will have to deliver if the team has to win. When Chennai bowled first, the pitch appeared a bit slow. By picking wickets at regular intervals, Dhoni managed to keep a lid on the scoring rate and managed to contain the strong Delhi batting line up to below 150. When Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson came out to bat, they knew their task is to build partnerships. Dhoni had decided to play the extra bowler for this game, so the batsmen had to take additional responsibility. We saw some early signs of nerves in the very first over when a terrible mix up gave Delhi a chance to affect a run out at either end, but they somehow managed to fluff it up with their over-eagerness. That missed run-out chance was all the luck this opening pair was going to need on the day. Shane Watson was still struggling to find the middle of the bat in the first couple of overs. The South African captain had the dual task of scoring some quick runs in the powerplay and handhold his partner across through a tough period. CSK have been slightly guilty of letting the game drift in the powerplay without paying any attention to the scoring rate. In the third over, you could see Faf was trying to change that. In the T20 era, most bowlers prefer a stationary target to aim. If you move around in the crease or charge the bowlers, then suddenly they start to lose their line and length. That's how someone like David Warner manages first to upset the bowlers, and then capitalize on anything loose on offer. When Faf charged the first ball of Boult's over, the seeds of doubt were sown in bowler's mind. Later on in the over, perhaps anticipating the batsman to charge him again, Boult shortened his length allowing Faf to rock back and unleash a powerful pull shot to collect his first boundary of the day. The opening salvo was fired. When spin was introduced, Faf knew it was another crucial moment of the game where he had to assert himself. Faf's grip on the bat and his stance is customized for hitting through the off side. Against Axar he made more room for himself to hit through the off side by shuffling slightly outside the leg stump and that allowed him to find the gap through covers for a boundary. Axar shortened his length the next ball to prevent the drive, but Faf was feeling it now. He extended his arms and used the extra pace of Axar to time the ball over the long off boundary. Shreyas Iyer has placed a fielder at the boundary precisely for that shot, but Faf didn't care. Another sign of the CSK opener deciding to assert himself on the game in the powerplay while taking some calculated risk. In the final over of the powerplay, Faf used Ishant's short-ish length to his advantage on a slow wicket and pulled and guided the ball to pick three consecutive boundaries. CSK were finally getting the kind of start that was missing from their title defence this year. A couple of boundaries later, when Faf crossed his fifty, Watson was still on 18 showing the extent of Faf's domination in this partnership. But Watson had now spent close to ten overs at the crease and was started to find the middle of the bat. He celebrated his partner's landmark with his first six of the day against Axar. When Faf got out in the next over, still looking to be aggressive against Trent Boult, DC got a slight opportunity to come back into the game. But the very next over, Watson picked 25 off Keemo Paul to shut the door on the young Delhi team. While giving an interview, later on, Watson thanked Faf profusely for carrying him through the tough period and allowing him to score only his third fifty of the season. The return to form of CSK's top order is a welcome change for the team who had to find ways to win games without much support from top order for most of this season. Against a Mumbai team that has been hammering down on their weaknesses this season, they will have to collectively play their A-game to take home the trophy for the second consecutive year. For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from IPL 2019, click here For the full schedule, date, time and venue of all the matches of IPL 12, click here<doc-sep>IPL 12 Qualifier 2 CSK vs DC at the ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam: Chennai Super Kings win by six wickets, and will now meet Mumbai Indians in the final for the fourth time in the IPL. This is CSK's eight final appearance in the 10 editions that they have played till date. Talk about consistency! IPL 2019, Qualifier 2, CSK vs DC Today’s Match Preview: Shreyas Iyer-led Delhi Capitals (DC) will look make it to their maiden Indian Premier League (IPL) final with victory over MS Dhoni's Chennai Super Kings (CSK) in the Qualifier 2 at the Dr YS Rajasekhara Reddy ACA–VDCA Cricket Stadium in Visakhapatnam. The task of beating MS Dhoni's team is easier said than done but the Ricky Ponting-coached side will have their hopes pinned on star wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant to make maximum impact. Pant has made 450 runs from 15 matches at an average 37.50 so far, and with a strike rate of 163.63. Delhi are also coming into the match with winning momentum having won their last two matches. Chennai became the first team to book their spot in the playoffs, but their recent form has been a bit awry. They have managed to win only two matches from their last seven games. Batting has been a bit of a problem for the team and they depend a lot on Dhoni to perform with the bat. But this is Chennai Super Kings, who are the defending champions and have won the tournament thrice. Chennai Super Kings (CSK) and Delhi Capitals (DC) Full squads: Chennai Super Kings Team 2019 Players list: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, Kedar Jadhav, Sam Billings(w), Ravindra Jadeja, Karn Sharma, Deepak Chahar, Shardul Thakur, Imran Tahir, MS Dhoni (w/c), Dwayne Bravo, Dhruv Shorey, Murali Vijay, N Jagadeesan, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Scott Kuggeleijn, Chaitanya Bishnoi, Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell Santner, Mohit Sharma, KM Asif, Monu Kumar Delhi Capitals Team 2019 Team Players list: Shreyas Iyer(C), Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant (WK), Colin Ingram, Keemo Paul, Axar Patel, Rahul Tewatia, Amit Mishra, Kagiso Rabada, Ishant Sharma, Hanuma Vihari, Ankush Bains, Chris Morris, Sherfane Rutherford, Jalaj Saxena, Sandeep Lamichhane, Trent Boult, Avesh Khan, Nathu Singh, Bandaru Ayyappa, Colin Munro, Manjot Kalra. For all the latest news, opinions and analysis from IPL 2019, click here For the full schedule, date, time and venue of all the matches of IPL 12, click here Check out the full points table for IPL 2019, including holders of Orange and Purple Caps<doc-sep>Deepak Chahar struck Prithvi Shaw’s pads and went up for an appeal, however, the umpire turned the Chennai Super Kings players down in the Qualifier 2 match against Delhi Capitals in Visakhapatnam on Friday. The MS Dhoni review system was at it again and the skipper confidently went for a review. The replays showed that the ball pitched on line and struck Shaw’s back knee in front of the stumps. MS Dhoni got another review right as he has recorded a staggering 86 percent in calling correct reviews. Earlier in the season, Imran Tahir had struck Navdeep Saini’s pads and went up for an appeal. After the umpire ruled it not out, Dhoni and Tahir didn’t waste much time and called for a review. Replays showed that the ball pitched on line and would have hit the stumps. Thereafter, the Royal Challengers Bangalore player was on his way back to the pavilion. ALSO READ: Shahid Afridi reveals why he chose Virat Kohli over Sachin Tendulkar and MS Dhoni in his all-time World Cup XI The Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to bowl first against Delhi Capitals in the Qualifier 2 of the Indian Premier League. CSK made one change to their playing eleven, bringing in Shardul Thakur for Murali Vijay. Delhi, meanwhile, have fielded an unchanged side. Delhi Capitals skipper Shreyas Iyer believes his team, which is populated with young players, has performed above expectations during the ongoing Indian Premier League (IPL) as it is just two matches away from its maiden IPL win. “All are youngsters in the team, we have been performing well, way above our expectations to be honest because getting maturity at such a young age, you hardly get to see in any player out there,” Iyer said in a video posted by the official handle of Delhi Capitals. (With inputs from agencies)<doc-sep>Delhi Capitals wicketkeeper-batsman Rishabh Pant on Wednesday put the dancing shoes on against Sunrisers Hyderabad in Visakhapatnam, smashing 22 runs off one Basil Thampi over to turn the game in his side’s favour. Chasing 163 to win, Delhi was in a spot of bother after twin-strikes from Khaleel Ahmed and Rashid Khan had left Shreyas Iyer & Co, side reeling at 111/5 after 16 overs. But Pant, unfazed by the fall of wickets at the other end, went hammer and tongs in the 18th over bowled by Thampi. The 21-year-old began by smashing a full delivery down the ground for four before launching a slower delivery over deep mid-wicket for six. He followed it up with another four and a six to snatch the game from Sunrisers. “If you are set, you have to finish it for your team. Next time, I will try to finish it for my team as I got very close tonight. I just try to be positive,” Pant said after the match. “In T20s, you have to have a big over. We practise everyday with the same set of bowlers and we see the ball and not the bowler. Today, I didn’t try to hit it too hard and focused on timing.” Earlier, a total of 139 runs were scored by Martin Guptill (36), Manish Pandey (30), Kane Williamson (28), Vijay Shankar (25) and Mohammad Nabi (20) as the rest of the batsmen were dismissed in single figures. As many as 10 extras were conceded by the DC bowlers as SRH finished at 162/8. Now, with DC setting up the Qualifier 2 clash against Chennai Super Kings (CSK) on Friday, here is how Twitter responded. What a match. What a tournament @IPL is. Well played Delhi and exceptional knock from @RishabPant777 – The gamechanger #DCvSRH — Virender Sehwag (@virendersehwag) May 8, 2019 Absolutely insane from Pant to hole out like that with victory just a few runs away. Such self indulgence can prove costly in this match. Also sends wrong signal to selectors — Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah) May 8, 2019 How is @RishabPant777 not in India’s Wcup squad?!!! Heck of a talent…& game changer of serious note! 👊🏻💥👏 #special #IPL #entertainer — Danny Morrison (@SteelyDan66) May 8, 2019 How is @RishabPant777 not in the World Cup squad …… Pretty sure #India still have time to change …….. !!!!! #Bonkers #IPL19 — Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan) May 8, 2019 Am firmly now in the Rishabh Pant fan club. — Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar) May 8, 2019 so the three teams that finished on 18 points each after the group stage remain alive in the tournament… #DCvSRH #IPL2019 — Gaurav Kalra (@gauravkalra75) May 8, 2019 You can fret over @RishabPant777 throwing it away with victory in sight but chew on this: isn’t it 4th game he’s won from a very difficult situation for @DelhiCapitals this season. Should have been on the plane to UK #DCvsSRH — Vikrant Gupta (@vikrantgupta73) May 8, 2019 Great…Anth Bhala toh sab Bhala…DC sneaks through at the end…Rishab got to mature fast…congratulations dada n his boys…@SGanguly99 — Samip Rajguru (@samiprajguru) May 8, 2019 Why do it easy when tough is possible!!!! #DC are through. But not without raising heartbeats. Well done 👍 the three best teams of the #IPL are the last three standing. #DCvSRH — Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) May 8, 2019 @DelhiCapitals A young side has produced the goods consistently this year ,well deserved to play the 2nd qualifier … #SRHvsDC #IPL #IPL2019 — S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath) May 8, 2019<doc-sep>
It will be worth sitting up late on Friday night to watch Indian Premier League Qualifier. On paper, it is a contest between holders Chennai Super Kings and title-aspirants Delhi Capitals. The former are weary at the end of the season, if their defeat in the Qualifier 1 by Mumbai Indians is any indication. And the latter are an enthusiastic bunch who enjoyed the flavour of a maiden play-off win on Wednesday. Yet, if you are the sort who looks for underlying sub-scripts that come together to make a gripping tale, you will find it fascinating to watch what plans Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the most successful skipper, has up his sleeve for Shikhar Dhawan and Delhi Capitals’ young Turks of batting, Prithvi Shaw, Shreyas Iyer and Rishabh Pant. Of course, the match is a lot more than just Dhoni’s leadership skills. For, Delhi Capitals have a bunch who have performed superbly through the season, individually and collectively. Dhawan (503 runs), skipper Iyer and Pant (450 each) as well as young Shaw (348) have found the rhythm that has stood the side in good stead, more often than not. You can be sure that the youthful exuberance of Delhi Capitals and their eagerness to take a tilt at the elusive berth in the final will be on evidence as the takes on the mountains of experience that Chennai Super Kings boast of. Their thrilling victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Eliminator – their maiden win in a playoff game – will have given them confidence that they can go farther. One area in which Chennai Super Kings hold the edge over Delhi Capitals is the variety of bowlers that Dhoni has at his disposal. If the track makes it difficult for the batsmen to go after spin bowlers as in the Eliminator on Wednesday, Chennai Super Kings can serve 12 overs of quality spin through Imran Tahir, Harbhajan Singh and Ravindra Jadeja. Delhi Capitals will fall back on Amit Mishra and Axar Patel to do that stifling job in the middle-overs, trusting the seam trio of Ishant Sharma, Trent Boult (or Chris Morris) and Keemo Paul to challenge the Chennai Super Kings batsmen with the new ball. There is no doubt that they will miss their spearhead Kagiso Rabada but they can string together a quality attack. Iyer – and coach Ricky Ponting – may not want to alter the balance of the side by picking an extra spin bowling option in place of a seam bowler. After Wednesday’s experience, they may be tempted to think in terms of fielding Nepal leg-spinner Sandeep Lamichhane, but it is unlikely that they would go ahead with making that crucial change to the XI. They could well end up recalling Chris Morris in place of Trent Boult, hoping that the big South African all-rounder would be the one to stop Dhoni from getting away to another flourishing finish. On the contrary, you can expect Dhoni to not even consider changing the composition of his attack. He will look to draw the best out of the team’s bowling and pose questions to the Delhi Capitals stroke-players to make the match interesting. But he will need his team’s batting to come good if they are to stop Delhi Capitals from setting up the title clash with Mumbai Indians on Sunday. He is the only Chennai Super Kings batsman who has passed the 400-run mark this season. It tells you of the vulnerabilities of their top batsmen. Faf du Plessis (320 from 10 matches) and Suresh Raina (364) are the others who have had at least two half-centuries this season but the likes of Shane Watson (268) and Ambati Rayudu (261) have made the team wait for them to come good. Chennai Super Kings lost too many wickets in the Powerplay overs in the Qualifier 1 against Mumbai Indians and, despite some good work in the end by Rayudu and Dhoni, they did not have enough runs on the board. Dhoni will be fervently hoping that the top-order contributes a lot more in this big game against the younger Delhi Capitals outfit. With five wins in the last seven games, Delhi Capitals will have the better momentum than Chennai Super Kings, who have lost five of their last seven matches.