Royals hold nerve to beat Dhoni’s men

The final had all ingredients packed in the right proportions. Spectacular sixes, sliding stops, restrictive bowling in patches, both Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals played out a final that befitted the stage but sadly there had to be only one winner.

Chasing a challenging 164 for a win the Royals, the best side in the league stage got the winning runs off the final ball in a heart stopping final. With one run required of the last ball Sohail Tanvir got the all important single of L. Balaji to trigger of wild celebrations in the dug out.

Full credit should go to the pair of Pathan and Shane Watson who came in with their team precariously placed at 43 for three. They strung a vital 45-ball 65-run stand with some clean hitting that brought the match well within their grasp. A spate of wickets fell after Muralitharan yorked Watson that allowed panic to set in but they had the answer in Warne and Tanvir.

The start to the chase was not dazzling. Swapnil Asnodkar did make full use of the short deliveries Manpreet Gony offered him. Cutting with tremendous bat speed the diminutive opener made up for Niraj Patel’s inability to deal with the pace of Makhaya Ntini. Patel tried to break the shackle and was castled by Gony when he attempted to go across the line.

Kamran Akmal and Asnodkar strung a decent partnership taking the score to 40 in six overs. Albie Morkel struck with his first ball, Asnodkar could not keep his square drive down. Shortly later Akmal tried a non existent single and Ntini’s direct hit from mid on found the batsmen short.

The Chennai innings was never one smooth flow. It had its fair share of sparks but big overs never came in one stretch. The spongy outfield did not help matters either. Parthiv Patel and S. Vidyut had their plans in place. They went hard when offered the width and prospered. Vidyut slashed a six of Watson over third man as the innings gained momentum from the third over onwards.

Sohail Tanvir who wreaked havoc in the league game was taken of the attack after his first over and Warne used four bowlers within the powerplay. Pathan was introduced in the sixth over and Vidyut duly found the lone fielder in the deep at deep mid-wicket. Parthiv used his feet well to the medium pacers and his share of boundaries as the 50 came in the seventh over.

Suresh Raina did not lose time in getting on with the game. Neatly placed singles marked the initial phase of his innings before he launched into a massive assault against Shane Warne, belting two massive sixes.

Pathan with his suspect action ran through his quota quickly giving away only 22 runs. Morkel who came in at the fall of Parthiv was unable to read Pathan nor Warne. Two sixes when offered the right length redeemed his reputation a bit but it was at that stage where Chennai lost a bit of momentum.

To Chennai’s credit they never allowed the run rate to dip under seven per over. Warne tried applying pressure on Raina by having a extra fielder in the ring but the southpaw was equal to the task taking the aerial route. Dhoni and Raina took the score to 117 in 15 overs and with two in form batsmen at the crease a score of 170 looked a distinct possibility.