The final of VIVO IPL 2021 certainly lived up to the hype that had been built around it for a while. This year’s tournament-tested its fan’s patience and as well as passion, as it returned after a 4-month break caused due to COVID 19. However, neither the fans nor the fans were unrelenting, therefore what we witnessed was one of the best seasons of IPL.
Playing in the final were two teams that seem to have lost their mojo in the last season. While KKR ended that season on the 5th spot, CSK ended at their career-worst rank of 7th. Everyone thought that it was the end of an era in IPL, with CSK finally losing its winning touch. However, the Kings were only taking a step back to leap further ahead, and they did just that by becoming the first team to qualify for the playoffs in this season’s IPL. It was a tight affair for KKR on the other hand, as they only managed to qualify on the last day of league stages, but in the playoffs, they too put up a great performance to reach the final.
Now the final was played between two teams, which last met in 2014, and KKR won the final with ease to deny CSK their third title. Considering their form in the tournament recently, the fans knew that it was a close affair and that is how it exactly turned out to be.
Winning the toss, Morgan asked CSK to bat first, and the Chennai team cardinally accepted the invitation by smacking 192 runs in their 20 overs. With great innings by Faf du Plessis of 86 runs in 59 balls, and other batters like Gaikwad 32, Uthappa 31, and Mooen 37 around him, CSK knew that they had set a great target for KKR’s jaded batting lineup to chase.
KKR has earlier suffered a great blow caused by an injury to Rahul Tripathi. He had to hop out of the ground due to some injury, but their opening batters put up a great show, as they added 91 runs in 11 overs for the first wicket. It felt as if KKR was going to complete a treble over CSK by defeating them for the third time in a final. CSK bowlers, Shardul Thakur in particular had other ideas. He removed two of the most crucial batters of KKR in one over, to bring his side back in the game. Later Jadeja and Hazlewood applied the final blows by taking 2 wickets each, to make sure that there was no comeback possible.
In the end, KKR’s tail did wag, but it was never enough as CSK marched up to a fairytale 4th title victory by a margin of 27 runs. Ruturaj Gaikwad became the second player in the history of IPL to win the orange cap as well as the IPL title.
Urs Anbuden Everywhere 😍🥳#SuperCham21ons#CSKvKKR #WhistlePodu #Yellove 🦁💛 pic.twitter.com/d1o6VNnxE4
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) October 15, 2021
