Chennai Super Kings reach IPL final after trouncing Delhi Capitals

Visakhapatnam (Andhra Pradesh) [India], May 10 (ANI): Chennai Super Kings defeated Delhi Capitals by six wickets at ACA-VDCA Cricket Stadium here on Friday and secured their spot in the Indian Premier League (IPL) final which will be played against Mumbai Indians.
Chasing a modest total of 148 runs, Chennai had a brilliant start as they witnessed an 81-run opening partnership between Faf du Plessis and Shane Watson. Both played some amazing shots and provided Chennai a scintillating start. Du Plessis scored his third half-century in this season of IPL before Trent Boult got hold of him in the 11th over.
Keemo Paul bowled the 12th over in which Watson smashed three sixes and a boundary which helped Watson complete his half-century. Soon after scoring his second half-century in this season, Watson (50) gave away his wicket.
Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu then came out to bat but Raina too gave away his wicket after scoring just 11 runs. After Raina's dismissal, skipper Dhoni took the field. Rayudu and Dhoni played steadily and added another 19 runs on the scoreboard. However, in the 19th over, Dhoni tried to finish off the match by hitting a six but gave away an easy catch to Keemo Paul off Ishant Sharma delivery.
Dwayne Bravo then joined Rayudu and both took their side over the line to register a six-wicket victory.
Earlier, Delhi Capitals had a decent start as both openers, Prithvi Shaw and Shikhar Dhawan, formed a 21-run opening partnership.
Dhawan came out furiously against Shardul Thakur in the second over of the inning as he hammered three back to back boundaries. In the third over Deepak Chahar got hold of Shaw (5) which brought Colin Munro out on the field.
Soon after that Dhawan (18) too gave away his wicket in the sixth over. Skipper Iyer then came out to bat and joined Munro. Both formed a 20-run partnership before Ravindra Jadeja sent Munro (27) back to the pavilion.
Rishabh Pant then joined the skipper on the field but Iyer (13) became a victim of Imran Tahir's delivery. Soon after Iyer's dismissal, the next batsman Axar Patel (3) too gave away his wicket in the very next over.
Sherfane Rutherford then came out to bat and both Pant and Rutherford played cautiously, avoiding any risky shots. However, in the 16th over, Rutherford (10) smashed a six to Harbhajan Singh but gave away his wicket in the same over which ended Pant and Rutherford's 22-run partnership.
Pant was then joined by Keemo Paul. Taking control of the inning, Pant started smashing boundaries and sixes. But Pant did not get help from the other side as Paul (3) too gave away his wicket in the 18th over putting pressure on Pant. As a result, Pant (38) too got out in the next over off Chahar's delivery.
Amit Mishra and Trent Boult then came out to bat and in the last over bowled by Jadeja, Boult smashed a six but got out on the next delivery. Ishant Sharma came out to bat and hit a boundary and a six which helped his side put up a respectable total of 147 runs.
Chennai Super Kings will now face Mumbai Indians in the IPL final on May 12.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings (Faf du Plessis 50, Shane Watson 50, Trent Boult 1-20) defeated Delhi Capitals (Rishabh Pant 38, Colin Munro 27, Dwayne Bravo 2-19) by six wickets. (ANI)