IPL 5 Final – Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings – Dhoni and Gambhir battle it out in the mega finale - Match Preview
After a tense play-off stage, Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) will take on Chennai Super Kings (CSK) today in the final of the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai.
Kolkata and Chennai have had contrasting performances this year as the former looked apart throughout the league stage of the tournament, whereas, the latter struggled to find momentum for most part of the season.
CSK was extremely lucky to have qualified for the play-offs as it was tottering in the middle of the points table with 17 points after their 16 matches. Luck went their way and the defending champions made it to the last four of the event once again, despite an ordinary showing in the league fixtures.
However, just like every great side, Chennai raised their game in the big matches and thrashed star-studded teams like http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Delhi-c780 Daredevils out of the tournament. The Super Kings seem to have peaked at an ideal time and KKR will have to play out of their skins to stop Dhoni’s men from lifting the trophy for the third time in a row.
Chennai’s batting struggled throughout this year, failing to post competitive totals on the board. The likes of http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Subramaniam-Badrinath-c91587 were all out of form in the initial half of the season. However, Vijay, the Indian international, came up with the innings of his life against the Daredevils on Friday to see his team through to the final.
The whole batting line-up played around the right-handed opener and helped their team score 222 runs in the allotted 20 overs, which is a massive total in this version of the sport. The batting performance must have made Dhoni and http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Stephen-Paul-Fleming-c91190 breathe easy.
The kind of hunger for victory CSK has shown in the previous two encounters is definitely not a good sign for the Knight Riders, who are still considered to be the favourites to clinch the title.
Dhoni fully understands that the mystery spinner, http://www.senore.com/Cricket/Sunil-Philip-Narine-c91869 is going to pose the biggest threat for his team in this crunch match.
"With his action, it is difficult to catch him as to which side he is bowling, whether it is the one that comes in to a right hander or it goes out. The variation he has got and the consistency that he has got in maintaining line and length has been crucial," Chennai’s skipper expressed.
KKR, on the other hand, have had their best IPL season this year and have looked the best team of the event by a distance. The franchise has not depended on individual brilliances; instead, a perfect team combination has been the secret behind KKR’s success.
http://www.senore.com/Cricket/G-Gambhir-c1447 has been a revolutionary captain for KKR as he has led his team from the front and has been Kolkata’s best batsman this year by a distance, while the others have played around him. The same has been the case with Narine in the bowling department as he is by far the most potent bowler of the tournament.
The duo has played a massive role in the success of their team but one gets a feeling that the rest of the players will have to raise their game as well in the most important match of the season. http://www.senore.com/Cricket/BB-McCullum-c1129 have been a touch off-colour this year but they must make it count in the final, being the two senior-most players of the franchise.
KKR’s captain is an aggressive character and he has made it clear that his team will have a ‘do or die’ attitude in the final.
Gambhir believes, "When you go on to the field, you do not go there to make friends but you are there to get results in your team's favour. You have to be aggressive on the field. That is how we have won matches."
Prior to the play-offs, most of the analysts were rating KKR as the favourite side to clinch the title for the first time but taking into account Chennai’s showings in the last couple of games, it is going to be a 50/50 match and no team is an absolute favourite to lift the trophy today.
However, one thing is for sure that we will witness an extremely intense battle and the team which performs on the day, will clinch the coveted title.
Tags: