The script was eerily similar for both the teams, but there could have been only one winner. If it was Carlos Brathwaite for Sunrisers Hyderabad in the first innings, Faf du Plessis (67* off 42 balls) proved to be the saviour for Chennai Super Kings in the chase during the first qualifier of the Indian Premier League 2018, at the Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai.
Chasing 140 for a win and a direct entry into the final of the IPL 2018, CSK almost made a mess of the seemingly easy run chase, before winning by two wickets and five balls to spare. Having restricted SRH to a modest total of 139/7, thanks to some brilliant bowling led by Ravindra Jadeja (1/13 in four overs), CSK took a gamble by opening with Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis, instead of their usual and successful opener Ambati Rayudu—the fourth highest run scorer this season with 586 runs.
The move backfired as Watson was dismissed for nought by Bhuvneshwar Kumar in the first over itself. There was a brief second-wicket partnership of 24 runs between Suresh Raina (22) and du Plessis, which was broken in the fourth over by Siddharth Kaul. Rayudu was bowled for a golden duck the very next ball.
CSK skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, too, didn't last long. He hung around for nine runs off 18 balls before being bamboozled by a Rashid Khan googly. Khan, in fact, was the best bowler of the night, with figures of 2/11 in his four overs.
Khan also accounted for Dwayne Bravo (7), while Sandeep Sharma dismissed Ravindra Jadeja (3) and Deepak Chahar (10) to leave CSK reeling at 92/7. However, du Plessis held up one end even as the other batsmen made a beeline for the pavilion. He found able support in Shardul Thakur (15*) and the duo took CSK to their seventh IPL final.
Earlier, put into bat by CSK, SRH recovered from a batting collapse, mainly due to the single-handed efforts of Brathwaite, who smashed a 29-ball 43*.
SRH were struggling at 88/6 by the end of the 15th over. But a seventh-wicket partnership of 50 runs off 29 balls between Brathwaite and Bhuvneshwar Kumar (7) rescued the team and gave their bowlers something to bowl at. Captain Kane Williamson (24) and Yusuf Pathan (24) were the other notable contributors with the bat.
Apart from Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo chipped in with two wickets. Brathwaite was particularly harsh on Thakur, scoring 20 runs off him in the last over of their innings. However, the CSK bowler had the last laugh, as he watched du Plessis tear into Brathwaite, plundering 20 runs in the 18th over bowled by him, which ultimately proved to be decisive.
SRH will now take on the winner of the eliminator match between Rajasthan Royals and Kolkata Knight Riders, to be held at Eden Gardens, Kolkata, tomorrow, at the same venue on May 25.
The final will be held at Wankhede Stadium in Mumbai on May 27.