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History did not repeat itself. It was not supposed to. The lack of depth in the Kolkata Knight Riders’ (KKR) batting line-up was exposed. They failed to chase down another 190+ score in an IPL final, and a third title remained elusive.
The remarkable KKR resurgence was cut short by a brilliant all-round display from Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who themselves completed a circle in UAE.
Last season, Ruturaj Gaikwad had tested positive for Covid-19, and Suresh Raina and Harbhajan Singh opted out in 2020. For the first time in history, Chennai had failed to qualify for the Playoffs, and eventually finished seventh.
A year later, they won their fourth IPL trophy in captain M.S. Dhoni's 300th T20 appearance as captain in Dubai.
The win was set up by their batters, who helped them post 192/3. Faf du Plessis slammed his sixth fifty of the season as Ruturaj Gaikwad, Robin Uthappa, and Moeen Ali played key supporting roles. This was CSK’s first win of the season, batting first.
Brisk start from KKR
KKR were allowed a brisk start, courtesy a dropped catch by Dhoni before Venkatesh Iyer opened his account. Iyer and Shubman Gill slammed 55 runs in the Powerplay.
Iyer continued with the onslaught, and Gill joined the party in the 10th over after luck once again smiled at Kolkata. Despite getting caught after miscuing a slog sweep, Gill got a lifeline as the ball was declared ‘dead’ because it hit the spider camera wire. Gill followed it up with consecutive boundaries.
CSK staged a strong comeback in the next over, with Shardul Thakur dismissing Iyer for fifty and Nitish Rana for a duck. In another batting collapse, from 91/1, KKR were reduced to 125/8 in a span of 35 balls.
Senior stalwarts, skipper Eoin Morgan, Dinesh Karthik and Shakib Al Hasan scored four, nine and nought, respectively.
Morgan’s tournament average of 11 is the lowest for any captain in an IPL. Harbhajan Singh averaged 12 for Mumbai Indians (MI) in IPL 2012.
Shivam Mavi and Lockie Ferguson added 39 in 20 balls, but the match was over once the middle order let Kolkata down. To make things worse, the in-form Rahul Tripathi was not at his best due to a hamstring injury he picked up while fielding.
Despite going for 17 from his final over, Thakur finished with 3-38.
Faf du Plessis triumphs KKR bowling
The toss was going to be crucial. KKR’s six wins in the UAE have all come while chasing, and all of CSK’s five defeats until the final came batting first. The coin flipped KKR’s way, which meant CSK had to go against the tide.
CSK openers Gaikwad and du Plessis took them to 50 in the Powerplay. In the process, Gaikwad claimed the Orange Cap and ended his campaign with 635 runs.
Du Plessis continued his carnage ending two short of Gaikwad’s tally, falling for a 59-ball 86 to Shivam Mavi off the last ball of the innings.
For the third time in IPL history (after Chris Gayle and Virat Kohli in 2013, and Kohli and AB de Villiers in 2016, all for Royal Challengers Bangalore), two players from the same side have ended with over 600 runs in a season.
Du Plessis targeted Lockie Ferguson’s pace as the latter went for 56 in his four overs. Even the trusted pair of Varun Chakravarthy and Shakib Al Hasan went for 71 runs off their seven overs.
The CSK batting unit relied on partnerships. Du Plessis added 61 in 49 balls with Gaikwad (32 off 27) at the top, 63 in 32 balls with Robin Uthappa (31 off 15), and 68 in 39 balls with Moeen Ali (37 off 20).
Amid the carnage, Sunil Narine returned with figures of 4-0-26-2, preventing CSK from reaching the 200-run mark, a rarity this season.
The better team did win the final, but KKR’s return in IPL 2021 marked one of the finest comebacks in the tournament history.
Brief scores: Chennai Super Kings 192/3 in 20 overs (du Plessis 86; Narine 2-26) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 165/9 in 20 overs (Gill 51; Thakur 3-38) by 27 runs Player of the Match: Faf du Plessis.
Chennai Super Kings won IPL 2021. Most Valuable Player: Harshal Patel.