IPL Last: Faf du Plessis propels Chennai Tremendous Kings to 27-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders

Eoin Morgan fails once more with bat as Knight Riders stoop from 91-0 to 125-8 after being set 193 to win; Moeen Ali blasts 37no in Chennai’s 192-3, which options 86 off 59 balls from du Plessis; Gaikwad beats du Plessis to Orange Cap by two runs; Bangalore’s Harshal Patel takes Purple Cap

Faf du Plessis celebrates reaching his fifty within the IPL last in opposition to Kolkata

Faf du Plessis’ commanding 86 set Chennai Tremendous Kings heading in the right direction for a 27-run win over Kolkata Knight Riders within the 2021 IPL last in Dubai.

The South African struck three sixes and 7 fours off 59 balls, with Ruturaj Gaikwad (32), Robin Uthappa (31 off 15) and Moeen Ali (37no off 20) additionally weighing in as Tremendous Kings racked up 192-3.

Shubman Gill (50) and Venkatesh Iyer (51) replied with half-centuries on the high of Kolkata’s chase however there was to be no denying Chennai their fourth IPL title as Shardul Thakur (3-38), Josh Hazlewood (2-29) and Ravindra Jadeja (2-37) mixed to limit Kolkata to 165-9.

Kolkata – taking part in of their first IPL last since successful the match for the second time in 2014 – had been rapidly beneath the pump after Eoin Morgan determined to bowl first.

Chennai’s prolific opening pairing of Du Plessis and Gaikwad once more set the usual by placing on 61 in 8.1 overs, though the South African ought to have been stumped by Dinesh Karthik off Shakib Al Hasan’s bowling on two.

Gaikwad overtook KL Rahul because the match’s main run-scorer when he reached 24 and his last tally of 635 would show simply adequate to carry off team-mate Du Plessis, who bought to inside two runs.

Kolkata misplaced Rahul Tripathi to a hamstring pressure earlier than incomes their first breakthrough as Gaikwad did not clear Shivam Mavi at long-off, off the bowling of Sunil Narine (2-26).

Uthappa – beforehand the one batsman in IPL historical past to assert the Orange Cup and win the trophy in the identical 12 months – was rapidly into his work, swinging Shakib over midwicket for the primary of three sixes in his innings.

Du Plessis was equally brutal, posting his twenty second IPL fifty off 35 balls by launching Lockie Ferguson down the park.

The pair placed on 63 off 34 balls earlier than Uthappa – dropped on 13 when Narine couldn’t maintain onto a fierce return drive – fell lbw to the spinner trying to reverse sweep.

There was no let-up from Chennai as Moeen Ali and Du Plessis added an extra 68 off 40 balls, the Englishman tuning up for the World T20 with an unbeaten 37 off simply 20 balls.

Two of Moeen’s three sixes got here off Mavi’s third over earlier than the seamer rallied in his fourth to select up the wicket of Du Plessis as he tried to launch the final ball of the innings for six.

Kolkata’s chase ought to have suffered an early blow when Iyer snicked a rising Hazlewood ball behind earlier than he had scored however the bounce appeared to shock MS Dhoni, who shelled the possibility.

The following supply disappeared over the rope behind sq., kickstarting a partnership between Iyer and Gill that reached 50 off simply 5.4 overs.

The openers matched the fluency they displayed in placing on 96 in Wednesday’s Qualifier 2 win over Delhi regardless of Chennai’s makes an attempt to take tempo off – Iyer shifting to 41no off 25 with a 92m six over vast long-on off Jadeja.

One other most off the spinner’s subsequent over helped him to succeed in his fourth IPL fifty off simply 31 balls.

Gill had 27 off 25 balls when he seemed to be caught within the deep by Rayudu off Jadeja just for the ball to be known as lifeless because it struck one of many wires supporting Spider Cam.

Jadeja remained within the thick of the motion, maintaining his composure to seize a catch within the deep as Iyer sliced Thakur excessive to deep cowl, making the rating 91-1 off 10.4 overs.

Nitish Rana did not final out the over – presenting a catch to du Plessis at mid-off and falling for a first-ball duck as a Thakur supply appeared to stay within the pitch.

The match tilted additional in Chennai’s favour as Narine (two) picked out Jadeja on the deep midwicket boundary of the bowling of Hazlewood – the third wicket to fall within the area of six runs.

The wicket introduced out-of-nick Eoin Morgan to the crease with the asking price approaching 12 runs an over, the burden of the chase very a lot on Gill’s shoulders as he reached fifty off 40 deliveries.

Kolkata’s Shubman Gill acknowledges the applause for his half-century

It appeared to take its toll because the opener tried to scoop Chahar solely to be trapped plumb lbw and though Karthik pulled his first ball for six, he fell trying to clear the rope once more.

Jadeja fired down a large earlier than sending Shakib Al Hasan again for a first-ball duck and a hobbling Tripathi (two) had no possibility however to swing, clothes Thakur to Moeen Ali at long-on.

Any faint hopes Morgan’s presence on the crease provided fell away when the England skipper pulled a Hazlewood slower ball to Chahar, who saved his composure on the deep sq. rope and launched the ball as he stepped over the rope earlier than grabbing it once more as he stepped again onto the sphere of play.

It meant Morgan ended the match with simply 133 runs from 16 knocks at a mean of 11.08 with England’s opening match of the ICC Males’s T20 World Cup a little bit over per week away.

A late flurry of runs from Ferguson and Mavi left Kolkata needing an unlikely 31 off the ultimate over and Dwayne Bravo delivered the trophy in fashion by conceding simply three singles and selecting up Mavi’s wicket within the course of.