MS Dhoni, the master, has gotten one over the student.

Last ball is pulled through square leg for 4.

CSK win by 4 wickets and 2 balls to spare.

Tom Curran to bowl the final over.

19.1 — OUT! Slower ball, Moeen Ali whacks the ball straight down the deep square leg’s throat. Rabada pouches the ball comfortably. He’s gone for 16.

Jadeja walks in next. CSK need 13 from 5. 

Tom Curran on a hat-trick

19.2 — DHONI HITS FOUR ON HAT-TRICK BACK. I am having goosebumps. Is this really the DHoni of old. Slower ball outside off. It was wide and Dhoni absolutely slaps the ball over cover for 4.

9 from 4 needed

19.3 — FOUR! INSIDE EDGE AND 4. DOESN’T MATTER HOW THEY COME. Dhoni is finishing it off here. The Stadium is going berserk

19.4— WIDE

4 needed from 3

FOUR! DHONI FINISHES IT OFF IN STYLE. HE HAS DONE IT. 

18 OFF 6 BALLS. CHENNAI WIN BY 4 WICKETS

FOUR! A low wide full toss from Avesh, who misses his yorker once again, and Ali carves the ball over sweeper cover for 4.

SIX! DHONI TURNING BACK THE CLOCK! Short from Avesh and Dhoni clobbers the ball into the stand over deep mid-wicket for 6.

CSK are 160/5 in 19 overs.

OUT! What a catch from Axar to get rid off Gaikwad on 70. Avesh Khan strikes. A low full toss from Avesh. Ruturaj slams the ball towards cow corner. Axar does well to charge forward and take a brilliant diving catch

CSK are 149/5 after 18.1 overs

MS Dhoni walks out next, ahead of Ravindra Jadeja.

FOUR! Into the slot from Nortje. Gaikwad rocks back and thumps the ball past mid-off for 4.

FOUR! That is a shot and a half. 600 runs for Ruturaj Gaikwad this season. How good has this youngster been. Steps out, makes room, converts the ball into a full toss and he carves the ball behind point for 4.

CSK ARE 149/4 in 18 overs.

FOUR! Much needed. A full toss from Avesh on Ruturaj’s pads. He flicks the ball along the ground through deep mid-wicket.

9 off the over. CSK are 138/4

FOUR! Moeen pulls Nortje through deep mid-wicket for 4.

CSK are 129/4 in 16 overs

OUT! Run out. CSK are losing wickets in a pack here. Iyer and Rabada combine to run Rayudu out. Gaikwad calls for two after mistiming a shot to deep mid-wicket. Rayudu is slow on the turn and return and Iyer’s throw is on the bounce for Rabada. And he does well to dislodge the bails.

CSK are 119/4 after 14.4 overs

Moeen Ali walks out to bat at no.6

OUT! IS THAT OUT? Has Iyer just pulled off a brilliant relay catch to get rid of Robin. Yes, he has. Uthappa is gone for 64.

CSK are 113/2 after 13.3 overs. And this partnership is finally broken.

Shardul Thakur is the new man in

OUT! Tom Curran has two in the over and so does Shreyas Iyer. Back of the hand delivery from TC. Shardul looks to clear the boundary over the bowler’s head but ends up skying it to Iyer at long on. A golden duck for him.

CSK are 117/3 after 14 overs

Ambati Rayudu is the new man in.

FOUR! Effortless. In short, typical Uthappa! THAT’S THE 100-RUN STAND BETWEEN THE TWO. What a stand it has been. He reverse sweeps Ashwin for 4.

FOUR! That was as clean as a whistle! Dances down the track, gets to the pitch of the ball and creams the ball over the bowler’s head for 4.  Excellent batting.

CSK are 111-1 after 13 overs

This stand between Uthappa and Gaikwad now reads 96.

CSK are 99/1

TREATMENT FOR UTHAPPA! Uthappa and Gaikwad ran three and Uthappa may have done something to his hamstring. He is receiving treatment.

UPDATE: He is back up and we are back underway

SIX! Now Ruturaj Gaikwad is getting into the act. He muscles the ball just over the leaping and outstretched hands of KG Rabada at long on 6.

FOUR! He is taking the attack to DC’s most economical bowler, Axar Patel and that is going to dent DC. In the slot and straight, Ruturaj times it sweetly over the bowler’s head for 4.

CSK are 94/1 after 11 overs.

FIFTY! He gets to a 35-ball 50, does Uthappa. And he has played so so well.

CSK are 81/1 after 10 overs, need 92 from 60 balls.

R Ashwin concedes just 7 from the over as DC continue to apply the breaks on CSK. They are 75/1 after 9 overs.

Tom Curran, who is playing his first game of the UAE leg, is introduced into the attack.

4 off it. A good start from TC. CSK are 68/1 after 8 overs.

A quiet over from Axar. Just 5 off it. CSK are 64/1 after 7 overs.

SIX! I am telling you. Uthappa is smooth a batsman as any when on song. My God! This is a gorgeous pick-up shot. Avesh Khan goes straight and Uthappa, on the front foot, tonks the ball into the stands over cow corner.

FOUR! Slower ball from Avesh but full and straight. Uthappa stays back and he whips the ball through deep mid-wicket for 4. 

FOUR! THIS IS THE UTHAPPA LOFTED ON DRIVE and now we know this man in comfortable. Good length delivery from Avesh, Uthappa, on the up, times the ball over long on for 6.

FOUR! Into the slot, this time, Uthappa goes over mid off.

20 off. 50-RUN STAND BETWEEN THESE TWO. 

CSK ARE 59/1 AFTER 6 OVERS

FOUR! Till this ball, he had only conceded 1 off 4 balls. On the 5th ball, Gaikwad backs up and makes room. He then goes inside out over cover for 4. 

CSK are 39/1 after 5 overs. Just 5 off it eventually. 

SIX! Welcome to the IPL 2021 Playoffs, says Gaikwad to Kagiso Rabada. he comes down the track first ball to Rabada and tonks the ball over the bowler’s head for 6. SHOT!

FOUR! Robin Uthappa, as stylish and classy as ever, flicks the ball off his feet behind square for 4. 

CSK are 34/1 after 4 overs.

Nortje is breathing fire, as he has in the powerplays throughout the season. 

4 off his 2nd. CSK are 20/1 in 3 overs.

Avesh Khan, DC’s highest wicket-taker currently, is sharing the new ball.

FOUR! Well…well..well… Uthappa has come out with a clear mindset. That is to find boundaries in the powerplay with effortless-looking shots. Short and wide from Avesh and there was a slip in place. Uthappa guides the ball past the slip fielder for 4

CSK are 16/1 after 2 overs.

OUT! CLEAN BOWLED! Nortje strikes. A 148 kmph delivery fired into the stumps. Du Plessis plays across the line and misses it completely.

CSK are 3/1 after 0.4 over. He’s gone for 1. 

Robin Uthappa is the new man in.

FOUR! What a sublime piece of timing to get off the mark. Just leans into the cover drive and effortlessly times it for 4 does Robin

CSK are 8/1 after 1 over.

WELCOME BACK! Openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf Du Plessis begin CSK’s chase.

Anrich Nortje is opening the DC attack.

They need 173 from 120 balls to book a place in the final.

CAN THEY?

LET’S FIND OUT

Top performers with the ball:

Josh Hazlewood- 2/29 in 4 overs

Moeen Ali- 1/27 in 4 overs

An unbeaten 35-ball 51 from Pant and a 34-ball 60 from Shaw take Delhi to 172/5 in 20 overs.

Let’s not forget the 83-run stand between Pant and Hetmyer and a 37 from the latter

PANT (43*) And Tom Curran (0*) in the middle. 

Shardul Thakur to bowl

19.1 — DOT

19.2 — DOT

19.3 — DOT

19.4 — FOUR! Inside edge, past the keeper and four! 

19.5 – 2 RUNS! Pant moves to 49 with the brace

19.6 – 2 RUNS! FIFTY! Skipper Pant will remain unbeaten on 51

SIX! How does one describe that shot. Pant makes room and Bravo follows him. But it’s the slot and Pant manages to scoop the ball hard enough over long on. 

FLYING BAT AND ALMOST OUT! It’s all happening! The bat flies off Pant’s hands completely and falls near sqaure leg. The ball flies to sweeper cover where Chahar puts in a great dive but the fall is just short of him.

OUT! THIS TIME! The ball is caught. Short from Bravo. Hetmyer doesn’t get a whole lot of bat on the pull shot. And he is caught by Ravindra Jadeja

WHAT AN INNINGS FROM HIM. He’s gone for 37.

DC are 163/5 in 18.4 overs

FOUR! Full and straight from Hazlewood. Hetmyer stays back, clears his front leg and smashes the ball just over the bowler’s head for 4. 

FOUR! This time, Pant smokes the ball off the back foot through deep mid-wicket for 4. Short of length and angling away from off stump. Pant does well to stay put and take Delhi past 150.

DC are 153-4 in 18 overs

FOUR! 50-RUN PARTNERSHIP! A Slower bouncer from Bravo. Hetmyer reads it early, stays rooted on the backfoot and smacks it through deep mid-wicket for 4. The sound off the bat was music to ears.

FOUR! Edged, just wide of Dhoni and four. Wide of off stump and Pant throws the kitchen sink while trying to slog it over leg side. The ball flies off the outside edge for 4

DC are 141/4 after 17 overs. 

SIX! THAT’S A ONE-HANDED SIX AND IT’S A HUGE ONE! An off-cutter from Thakur goes wrong and he delivers a full-toss. Pant tees up but the ball begins to die on him. Hence, Pant’s top hand comes off the handle but he had put in enough bottom hand to hit it into the stands over cow corner. 

DC are 128/4 after 16 overs.

Now then! DJ Bravo is introduced into the attack

FOUR! THAT IS SMART CRICKET. VERY GOOD AWARENESS! Full and wide from DJ Bravo. Hetmyer gets his bat down on time, opens the face of the bat and guides the ball past third man for 4.

DC ARE 114/4 after 15 overs.

SIX! A welcome boundary for DC. Hetmyer gets down on one knee and slog sweeps the ball over deep mid-wicket for 6. 

DC are 107/4 after 14 overs.

After taking a beating in 2nd over, Chahar is back for his second spell. 

This is the phase where DC must keep ticking the scoreboard. Pant and Hetmyer can take an over or two to get their eye in while making sure that runs keep coming every ball.

DC are 96/4 after 13 overs.

7 off it. 

DC are 90-4 after 12 overs.

GONE! That’s the wicket they wanted. Fullish but around off stump from Jadeja. Shaws clears his front leg and leans into the inside-out lofted drive. Faf runs well to run to the left from long off and take a great catch near the ropes. 

DC are 83-4 after 11 overs.

Shimron Hetmyer is the new man in

DC are 79/3 after 10.

Shaw has scored 60 off them

OUT! The experiment did not work today as Axar holes out to substitute fielder Mitchell Santner at long on. 

DC are 77/3 after 9.4 overs.

Rishabh Pant now walks out to bat

FOUR! FIFTY! A late cute past backward point off the backfoot from Shaw and gets to his first fifty of the UAE leg. 

FOUR! Tossed up from Jadeja and it was dead straight. Shaw sweeps the ball in front of square for 4.

DC are 74/2 after 9 overs.

A tidy first over from MO. Concedes just 4 from it.

DC are 54/2 after 8 overs.

FOUR! Fulland wide from Jadeja. Axar slashes the ball over deep point DJ Bravo covered the ground but he didn’t get down on time. 

DC are 60/2 after 7 overs, 9 off it

OUT! TOP-EDGED AND GONE! COming to the wicket, Iyer looked to flick Hazlewood off his pads. But he was early into the shot and as a result, the ball went up high in the air off the top edge and Ruturaj Gaikwad did well to hold onto the catch at the edge of the circle.

DC are 50/2 after 5.3 overs.

Axar Patel is the new man in. Interesting choice.

“Lord” Shardul Thakur is introduced into the attack. First up is Shaw, who is batting on 29 off 13.

SIX! Make than 35 off 14. A rank half volley from Thakur. Shaw stays put and tonks the ball over deep mid-wicket for 6. What a way to welcome Thakur.

SIX! 50 up and how Shaw goes downtown to a full delivery from Thakur. Present the full face of the bat and thumps the ball into the sight screen for six.

DROPPED! A slower bouncer from Thakur. Shaw tries to cut it over the keeper but only edges it wide of Dhoni. He dives to his right but fails to hang on. 

DC are 50/1 after 5 overs

FOUR! Dhawan makes room, dances down the track and lofts the ball back past the bowler for 4.

OUT! Hazlewood gets his revenge. Draws Dhawan into a drive and the batter nicks the ball to the keeper.

DC are 36/1 after 3.1 overs.

Shreyas Iyer is the new man in. 

FOUR! Inside edge and four! The ball was the back of a length and wasn’t there to pull but Shaw goes for a short-arm jab. The ball grazes the inside edge and runs past the short fine leg fielder for 4.

FOUR! MUCH BETTER FROM SHAW! Chahar goes short and wide despite setting a leg side field. Shaw rocks onto the backfoot and cuts the ball through cover point for 4

FOUR! Flicked off his thigh pads past the short fine leg fielder and four. This time, Shaw hits the ball wide of that fielder on the other side. 

FOUR! What an over for DC. 4 BOUNDARIES IN THE OVER. SHort and wide and Shaw slaps it, absolutely slaps it through backward point for 4. This will make Shaw feel a lot better.

DC are 32/0 after 3 overs.

Another pull shot from Prithvi, second in as many over, but he finds the fielder again. This frustration could up pent up and lead to Shaw throwing away his wicket.

FOUR! And he almost did. Hazlewood goes short. The ball skids onto Prithvi, who goes for the pull. The ball flies off the edge and over the keeper for 4. 

SIX! What a way to finish the over. Another unconvincing boundary but Shaw will take it. Another short one but straying down leg. Shaw swivels and goes for the pull but once again, the ball flies off the top edge. This time, over fine leg for six

DC are 15/0 after 2 overs. 12 off it

Just three from the first over. 

DC are 3/0 

Shikhar Dhawan and Prithvi Shaw are opening for Delhi.

Deepak Chahato open Chennai’s attack.

Out come the two umpires followed by CSK emerging from the fireworks.

And then, to the welcome of another set of fireworks, out walk the DC openers 

-CSK have chased in five matches this season and have won all five.

-Each of the last seven games in Dubai have been won by the chasing side.

• 83: runs MS Dhoni needs to complete 7000 T20 runs

• 3: wickets Ravindra Jadeja needs to complete 100 IPL wickets for CSK.

• 19: runs Dwayne Bravo needs to complete 1000 IPL runs for CSK

• 3: sixes Dwayne Bravo needs to complete 50 IPL sixes for CSK.

• 150: Dwayne Bravo will be playing his 150th IPL match, if he takes the field vs DC.

• 2: more wickets Dwayne Bravo will be 2nd highest wicket taker in IPL surpassing Amit Mishra.

• 5: Axar Patel needs to complete 100 IPL wickets.

• 7: sixes Faf Du Plessis needs to complete 100 IPL sixes.

• 2: sixes Shikhar Dhawan needs to complete 200 T20 sixes

• 8: wickets Axar Patel needs to complete 150 T20 wickets.

• 85: runs Ambati Rayudu needs to complete 4000 runs in IPL.

• 7: wickets Ashwin needs to complete 150 wickets in IPL.

In the last 5 meetings, DC have won four times.

DC won by 3 wickets (IPL 2021, Match 50)

DC won by 7 wickets (IPL 2021, Match 2)

DC won by 5 wickets (IPL 2020, Match 34)

DC won by 44 runs (IPL 2020, Match 7)

CSK won by 6 wickets (IPL 2019, Qualifier 2)

Chennai Super Kings: Unchanged

Delhi Capitals: Tom Curran comes in for Ripal Patel

“We are fine with the toss, but we’d have bowled first. Slightly nervous, but it’s part and parcel of the game. One change for us – Ripal Patel goes out, Tom Curran comes in. When you win games, the confidence level is high, but we’ll not take the match lightly.”

“We will bowl. Whatever games we have played so far, the guys felt there was a bit of help for the seamers initially, it’s a tough wicket, but it could get better later on. We try to keep it simple, irrespective of any game. We analyse our shortcomings and it has helped us. We’re playing the same eleven.”

CHENNAI SUPER KINGS: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood

Delhi Capitals: Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Shreyas Iyer, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Tom Curran, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje

MS Dhoni of Chennai Super Kings wins toss, opts to bowl in Dubai

IN about 4 minutes, we will have the coin toss. WIN Toss and opt to bowl?

“Four captains have decided to bat first and only one of them was successful. The other seven have decided to chase off which five have been successful. Chasing seems to be the way here”

• By the end of the group stages, CSK batsmen have scored 2252 runs has which is the most among all the teams.

• Out of these 47.91% runs have been scored by CSK’s openers (1079/2252).

• ALSO, CSK have smashed 100 sixes and have the best balls/boundary rate.

“Really looking forward to the game, it’s nice to be involved in another playoff. We’ve played some good cricket and looking forward to the opportunity, it’s a big moment and hopefully we’ll get through. The main thing is to stay calm, remember what you wanted to do and just remember the basics. We just can’t get carried away with the moment, try and play our best cricket. It would be nice (to get some time off if they win tonight), it was back-breaking to play three matches on the bounce. Maybe one training session before we go into the finals day, that would be ideal. You have to try and use the conditions as much as possible, it’s been some changes needed as compared to the last season – I have tried to be as tight as possible, try and hit the stumps as much as possible. I have to see, don’t want to think about it, but he (Faf du Plessis) has been playing very well, so I don’t know how it will go.”

[DC | CSK]

Top scorers: Shikhar Dhawan – Shikhar Dhawan – 426 Runs | MS Dhoni – 565 Runs

Highest score: 101* By Shikhar Dhawan On Oct 17, 2020 | 63* By MS Dhoni On May 12, 2011

Top wicket-takers: Amit Mishra – 9 Wickets | Dwayne Bravo – 16 Wickets

BBM: 3/26 By Kagiso Rabada On Sep 25, 2020 | 4/12 By Imran Tahir On May 01, 2019

“Today there is a shorter and longer boundary square. 62 one way, 74 the other. Haydos is here. What do you see? I see a better surface than the one Delhi Capitals went down on (against RCB). There is less grass, it is nice and dry. But the cracks haven’t come into play because this is only the third time we are using this pitch. 160 is the score, but if the middle order gets going 170 is an option. Four captains have decided to bat first and only one of them was successful. The other seven have decided to chase off which five have been successful. Chasing seems to be the way here and that’s because the pitch doesn’t change much.”

-Reckon Pommie Mbangwa and Matthew Hayden

Faf du Plessis, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Suresh Raina, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Ravindra Jadeja, Shardul Thakur, Dwayne Bravo, Josh Hazlewood, Deepak Chahar

Our DC’s Predicted XI vs CSK: Prithvi Shaw, Shikhar Dhawan, Rishabh Pant (C, WK), Shreyas Iyer, Marcus Stoinis, Shimron Hetmyer, Axar Patel, R Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje

Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Robin Uthappa, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood, Suresh Raina, Imran Tahir, Jason Behrendorff, Krishnappa Gowtham, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravisrinivasan Sai Kishore, Hari Nishanth, N Jagadeesan, KM Asif, Harishankar Reddy, Dominic Drakes, Bhagath Varma, Karn Sharma, Cheteshwar Pujara

Shikhar Dhawan, Prithvi Shaw, Rishabh Pant(w/c), Shreyas Iyer, Shimron Hetmyer, Ripal Patel, Axar Patel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Kagiso Rabada, Avesh Khan, Anrich Nortje, Vishnu Vinod, Kulwant Khejroliya, Lalit Yadav, Praveen Dubey, Ben Dwarshuis, Tom Curran, Lukman Meriwala, Marcus Stoinis, Sam Billings, Steven Smith, Umesh Yadav, Amit Mishra, Ajinkya Rahane, Ishant Sharma

Best Bowling Figures:

5/32 By Arshdeep Singh (Punjab Kings) Against Rajasthan

Royals In 2021.

Highest Partnership:

181 By Shane Watson And Faf Du Plessis (Chennai Super

Kings) For 1st Wicket Against Punjab Kings In 2020.

Win Rate Batting First:

20% (2 Won; 8 Lost)

Highest Team Total:

219/2 By Sunrisers Hyderabad Against Delhi Capitals In 2020.

Lowest Team Total:

109/10 By Royal Challengers Bangalore Against Punjab Kings

In 2020.

Highest Individual Score:

132 By KL Rahul (Punjab Kings) Against Royal Challengers

Bangalore In 2020.

How many wickets and runs for the star all-rounder?

Anrich Nortje. Avesh Khan. Kagiso Rabada. 

CSK batsmen, watch out! 

vs: PBKS: Lost by 6 wickets

vs: DC: Lost by 3 wickets

vs RR: Lost by 7 wickets

vs SRH: Won by 6 wicekts

vs KKR: Won by 2 wickets

vs RCB: Lost by 7 wickets

vs CSK: Won by 3 wickets

vs MI: Won by 4 wickets

vs KKR: Lost by 3 wickets

vs RR: Won by 33 runs

Highest Total Chased- 188 On May 08, 2008

Lowest Total Defended- 150 On Apr 09, 2015

Highest Total Chased- 189 On Apr 10, 2021

Lowest Total Defended- 162 On May 18, 2018

The last time these sides met, DC pipped CSK for a three-wicket win. Batting first, Chennai posted 136/5 in 20 overs. In response, Pant and Co. chased down the target with 2 balls to spare. In fact, Delhi have won both their league meetings but Dhoni knows this game matters more than any other.

DC vs CSK is always a highly-anticipated contest as it sees Rishabh Pant and MS Dhoni, the junior and senior, square off against each other. Dhoni was a torchbearer for the wicketkeeper-batsman community in the past before he handed over the reins to Rishabh Pant. In IPL 2021, however, they have endured very contrasting forms. While Pant has smashed 362 runs in 14 games, Dhoni has managed to register 96. Can Dhoni win the battle today?

DC- 1st position (P-14 | W-10 | L-4 | Points- 20)

CSK- 2nd position (P-14 | W-9 | L-5 | Points-18)

Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings have faced each other 25 times in the IPL and CSK lead the overall head-to-head battle 15-10. If DC are to make the final today itself, they have no choice to make it 11-15.

Hello and welcome to the live coverage of Qualifier 1 of IPL 2021 between Delhi Capitals and Chennai Super Kings being played at the Dubai International Stadium in the UAE. DC and CSK finished 1 and 2, respectively, in the league stage and that is why they have the luxury of getting two cracks for a place in the final. The winner today goes directly into the final, while the losing team will have another shot of getting to the grand finale. But knowing the tenacity with which both captains Rishabh Pant (DC) and MS Dhoni (CSK) lead their sides, both teams would eye nothing short of a victory today. Which is why this encounter will only get spicier through the day. So, all my lovely viewers, sit back, relax and enjoy the action! You don’ want to miss this one!