Chennai Super Kings take on Kolkata Knight Riders in the Indian Premier League Final

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Chennai Super Kings are aiming for their fourth IPL title as they prepare to face the Kolkata Knight Riders.

MS Dhoni’s side has not won the trophy since 2018 but it seems his current squad’s mixture of experience and youthfulness is the perfect blend making them the favourites ahead of the final.

The best batsman for the Kings this season has been 22-year-old Ruturaj Gaikwad. He has made 603 runs so far this campaign, which is the second-highest in the competition and a minimum of 27 runs could see Gaikwad finish as the leading run-scorer.

Gaikwad has hit four half-centuries and reached triple digits once this year. His score of 101 and not out against the Rajasthan Royals was his best with the opener currently averaging 46.38 and a strike rate of 137.35.

The 22-year-old was also well-supported by the more experienced players in the squad as they helped the three-time champions put up good scores throughout the tournament.

Dhoni, Moeen Ali, Ravi Jadeja, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis and Ambati Rayudu scored a combined 1625 runs for their team which amounted to 69% of all runs scored by CSK. These players, who are all over 30 years of age, helped the squad to secure victories on many occasions.

Shardul Thakur led the CSK bowling attack with pride this season as he picked up 18 wickets, only bettered by four others this season. Dwayne Bravo, Jadeja, and Deepak Chahar all reached over 10 wickets with honourable contributions from both Sam Curran and Josh Hazlewood who secured nine each.

The Knight Riders have made their way to the finals the hard way in an attempt to win their third title. They managed to beat the Mumbai Indians to the final play-off spot due to their much stronger net run rate.

Eoin Morgan led his side to last-over victories against both Bangalore and Delhi in the play-offs, with the latter going down to the second last ball. Rahul Tripathi hit a six to send KKR to the finals and provide a shock exit for the league toppers.

Rahul Tripathi, Shubman Gill, Nitish Rana and Venkatesh Iyer have all provided good scores with the bat this season along with a few cameos from all-rounder Andre Russell.

Despite the great batting displays, it is Kolkata’s bowling that has earned them a spot in the finals.
No team conceded fewer runs than Brendon McCullum’s squad with five bowlers obtaining an economy figure lower than seven runs. Lockie Ferguson was one of these bowlers and the New Zealander took 13 wickets in just seven games this tournament.

Varun Chakravarthy is currently the team’s leading wicket-taker (18) with Sunil Narine not far behind in second with 14. Narine’s bowling performance against Bangalore was exceptional as he took the wickets of Virat Kohli, Glenn Maxwell and AB de Villiers.

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