South Africa star player Faf du Plessis took Chennai Super Kings to𒉰 the final of the Indian Premier League as they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 2 wicketꦐs in the first qualifier at the Wankhede stadium on Tuesday.
Faf du Plessis remained unbeaten on 67ꦺ off 42 balls to help CSK chase down 1ꦕ40 in a low-scoring thriller in Mumbai.
The 33-year-old smashed five boundaries and four sixes 🧸during his knock to take CSK to their 7th IPL final.
He had started off his innings very slowly and didn’t get to bat for nearly three overs after opening the innings with Shane Watson. But Du Plessis batted superbly in the second half of his knock with the tail-enders – adding 30 runs with Deepak Chahar, 21 runs with Harbhajan Singh and 27* with Shardul Thakur – to take his team over the line with 5 balls to spare.
Suresh Raina also made a useful contribution with 22 runs while Shardul made 15 not out, which included two boundaries off Siddharth Kaul in the penultimate over which tilted the equation in CSK’s favour.
CSK needed 6 runs to win in the final over and du Plessis smacked a six off the first ball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar (1/14) to finish the match with 5 balls to spare and triggered massive celebrations in the🦩 CSK dugout.
Ea🔯rlier, Hyderabad rode on a quickfire 43 off 29 to post 139 for 7 ෴in 20 overs after being put into bat by Dhoni.
The low-scoring match saw the batsmen struggling to score freely and it was only because of Brathwaite’s flourish in the death overs which gave SRH bowlers a defendable score.
Yusuf Pathan and captain Kane Williamson also made useful contributions to tꦡhe total scoring 24 runs each while Shakib Al Hasan (12) 𓄧and Shreevats Goswami (12) made identical scores as well.
For CSK, Dwayne Bravo pꦗicked up two wickets while Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Thakur and Ravindra 🥃Jadeja got a wicket each.
Here is how the Twitter world reacted to the Chennai Super Kings run chase:
Wha♈t a game. A total roll💧er coaster ride. didn’t lose heart and played their hearts out!! Well done guys 👍
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt)
—A tournament where seven teams play to 😼meet in the finals. 😊🙏🙌🙇♂️
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
What an incredible game yet ꧑again in the !! Faf has been phenomenal. Showing all his experience 🔥
— James Taylor (@jamestaylor20)
WOW!!!!!! Another unbelievable win… 🔥 ! Final time 🙌🏼 something seriously special about this franchise! 🦁
— Sam Billings (@sambillings)
If you have supported in and are still alive to watch the final on Sunday, your heart is just fin💙e.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh)
CSK’s success story has been about baꦺcking experience over age.👏👏♔👏
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar)
One of the most incredible comebacks in our IPL journey. Sheer delight watching 's one man show along with 's blistering shots in the end. , & were outstanding in 1st inn. One more to go, keep the whistles coming 🦁
— Lakky (@lakshuakku)
Finals we are back!!
— venkat prabhu (@vp_offl)
Mumbai Indians are the only side to win an title after losing 1st qualifier.
They did it twice in 2013 and 2017— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman)
FAF …….
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan)
Outstanding
— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49)
Faf Du Plessis take a bow!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
— Ben Duckett (@BenDuckett1)
CSK ‘s 7 th Final in the IPL, and that too after a come back . What a team – lead by No.7 himself – ! Top class !
— Archana Vijaya (@archanavijaya)
Congratulations to on being the first side to qualify for the final. E🐼pic from . What a terrific contest
— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris)
From the headquarters of the film industry, come the ൲finest scripts!! .
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)
//twitter.com/daws128/status/998974675895115777
7th IPL final for the Dhoni led in 9 years. No player has ever led his side to so many finals. It's like a special magic that's being weaved year after year. Something that's not quite ordinary. Without doubt the 'BEST SIDE' in IPL ever. Period
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani)
Fantastic finish by Faf… great game to watch!
— Albie Morkel (@albiemorkel)
FAFULOUSLY YOURS!
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL)
What an incredible game. The @VIVOIPL_2018 at its entertainin🉐g best. Well played .
— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2)
Individuals can win you matches, but only a team can win you championships, when one fails the other pulls up , doing just that…and not the first time
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath)
W෴ell done . Great character and temperament shown by and .
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha)
Wowsa huge congrats on reachi✱ng the final in first y🌳ear back.
— Isa Guha (@isaguha)
Box office 👌
— Eoin Morgan (@Eoin16)
IPL men’s game ✅ bucket list . Congrats
— Danielle Wyatt-Hodge (@Danni_Wyatt)
This is CSK's ninth IPL season and they have reached to the finals seven times. Unbelievable!
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman)
What a wonderful team is. Thei♋r self belief and the players standing up in crunch situations is amazing🅷. Brilliant consistency for their qualification to yet another . Their 7th Final 🙌🏻
— Anjum Chopra (@chopraanjum)
Stiff battle of skills and ne✃rves it w𒀰as. Whistlepodu effort by CSK to win this from a near-impossible position
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah)
What a k♔nock u beauty another finals chennai sup🌞er king 😊🤟
— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3)
Faf Du Plessis finishes in style!
CSK beat SRH by 2 wickets— betvisa68.com (@CricketTimesHQ)
