Ipl 2011 Final Match,Ipl 2011 Final Match Photos, Wallpapers, Galleries, Daniel Vettori of Royal Challengers Bangalore celebrates , IPL tournament | Indian Premier League 2011
It took an innings embellished with as many as 13 sixes and 7 boundaries, and an opening stand of 159, to power the Chennai Super Kings to an imposing 205/5, the highest total ever to be posted in an IPL final. Murali Vijay was at his murderous best and with a cool Michael Hussey at the other end, Chennai were helped on to a total Bangalore found out of their reach, especially once Chris Gayle fell for a duck in the first over of the chase. In the end Bangalore fell a woeful 58 runs short and were never really in the hunt. Repeatedly ignored by the Indian selectors, Ravichandran Ashwin was the star with the ball, taking 3/16 including that vital first wicket as Chennai celebrated a truly memorable win in front of their adoring fans.
Mahendra Singh Dhoni, captaining the Chennai Super Kings into a second consecutive final in the Indian Premier League, had called correctly at the toss earlier and elected to bat first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, on a track expected to get slower and slower as the game progressed.
It was an important toss for Chennai to win, who went into this game after having enjoyed a three-day break since their come-from-behind victory against Bangalore on the 24th May. Both teams fielded unchanged squads, with Chennai persisting with the same team that beat Bangalore in the qualifier, while Bangalore choosing to go in with the same XI that demolished Mumbai in the second qualifier yesterday.
The Chennai openers got off to a typically busy start, with both Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay keeping the scoreboard moving; right from the word go. Zaheer ensured a steady start for RCB with only 5 runs coming off the first over but Vijay was quick to deposit Sreenath Aravind over midwicket in the next over, kick-starting the acceleration.
Hussey took it forward, thumping a poor Zaheer delivery for a six off the next ball, and aided by some wayward fielding and unnecessary throwing, the Chennai score continued to swell. A tidy Chris Gayle over was spoiled by a poor throw from Saurabh Tiwary which raced away to the boundary, before the second spinner Syed Mohammad was welcomed into the attack by a Hussey blow over midwicket.
Vijay, as though in a six-hitting contest with his batting partner, responded immediately with a biggie off Gayle as Chennai galloped to 56/0 off 6 overs. Vettori brought himself on in a bid to plug the run-scoring a bit, and though he bowled a quiet over, Chennai’s supreme running-between-the-wickets coupled with the ability to pierce the gaps meant they faced no problems whatsoever.
Abhimanyu Mithun leaked 12 runs in the next over and with Vijay slogging Vettori for a six in the 9th over, prospects looked ominous for Bangalore. Luke Pomersbach dropped a catch he should have taken to dismiss Vijay, and the batsman made the most of the let-off to bring up his fifty in the next over, off 29 balls. Syed Mohammad then tried to hold on to a stunner off his own bowling but could not, even as the Chennai openers brought up the hundred run stand.
A cramping Vijay felt the need to go big with the 200 in sight, and with S Aravind offering some dollies, Vijay struck two monstrous sixes, taking Chennai to 121/0 off 12. From then on, it just got worse for Bangalore. Even their best bowlers in Zaheer and Vettori couldn’t do much to stop the onslaught as Vijay and Hussey kept plundering relentlessly. While Vijay approached three figures with amazing ferocity, Hussey reached his fifty with a smart reverse sweep. Syed Mohammad was then pasted for one six each by the openers before finally, the mammoth stand was broken, with Hussey skying a catch in the deep.
That brought the CSK skipper in the middle and after two quiet overs, Dhoni got into action swinging the stingy Gayle twice into the Chennai sky. Aravind made the wait for 200 a little longer for Chennai, getting rid of the extremely exhausted Vijay for 95 before claiming Dhoni next ball. However, an absolutely sublime six from Suresh Raina meant Chennai reached 198/3 with an over to spare. The last over went to Gayle, who was at his stingy best repeatedly yorking a hapless Morkel, finally claiming the South African off the fourth ball. Raina was castled one ball later, and with only one more delivery left in the innings, Chennai were stranded on 199. It took a West Indian in Dwayne Bravo to take Chennai past the 200-mark, which he did in style with a six.
Chasing 206 for a dream victory, Bangalore desperately needed Chris Gayle to fire, but Ravichandran Ashwin, Dhoni’s go-to man for Gayle foiled the plan. He bamboozled Gayle with three turning deliveries, claiming the big man off the third, with Gayle cutting one to a delighted Dhoni. Having broken the back of the chase, Ashwin then came back to hustle Mayank Agarwal with the carom ball, putting Chennai in total control as Bangalore stumbled to 16/2.
That brought two of Bangalore’s best batsman in Kohli and De Villiers together, and with the situation calling for a rebuilding operation, both responded well. Doug Bollinger’s first over was chosen for some treatment as both Kohli and de Villiers got stuck into him, scoring 14 runs. De Villiers then thumped Morkel through covers as Bangalore got the chase back on track posting 47/2 at the end of the powerplay overs.
The promising stand was short-lived though, and with his third ball of the day, Shadab Jakati effectively killed Bangalore’s hopes by trapping AB de Villiers plumb in front of the wicket. De Villiers paid for having shuffled too much, and with his demise, the chase swiftly went south. Pomersbach got a leading edge back to Jakati two overs later, and when Kohli fell lbw to a sharp off-break from Raina in the 10th over, Chennai had already begun sniffing success. Daniel Vettori too, got a leading edge back to the brilliant Ashwin, and with six wickets down, the game was effectively over as a contest.
Mithun was soon packed off by Bravo and though Tiwary and Zaheer kept chipping away at the chase, it was largely an exercise in futility. The required run rate had gone up to Himalayan proportions by then, and with Bangalore eventually falling short by 58 runs, it was a rout. Chennai’s successful defence of their IPL crown came at the expense of a totally one-sided final, though MS Dhoni and company would hardly mind that. For this Chennai side in bright yellow colours, the IPL has been a great success story, a successful exercise in building a close-knit squad around a great captain!
Mini Scorecard:
Chennai Super Kings: 205/5 (20 overs, 10.25 rpo)
M Vijay 95 (52) Aravind 2/39
M Hussey 63 (45) Gayle 2/34
Royal Challengers Bangalore: 147/8 (20 overs, 7.35 rpo)
Tiwary 42* (34) Ashwin 3/16
De Villiers 35 (32) Jakati 2/21
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