Dubai, October 15: Faf du Plessis and Shardul Thakur shine as Chennai Super Kings defeat Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs in the IPL 2021 Final at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium in Dubai on Friday (October 15).
After in-form Du Plessis saved his best for the last with a blazing 86 off 59 balls, Thakur took three wickets as CSK restricted KKR to 165/9 to seal the fourth IPL title for Mahendra Singh Dhoni's side.
Put into bat first, Chennai Super Kings posted a formidable 192 for 3 in their allotted 20 over as it was a 'Daddies' Day Out' in the true sense.
Ruturaj Gaikwad sealed the Orange Cap with a knock off 32 and shared a solid opening stand of 61 with Du Plessis, who was very close to grabbing the leading run-scorer cap, but fell 2 runs short.
37-year-old du Plessis, along with 35-year-olds Robin Uthappa (31 off 15 balls) and Moeen Ali (37 not out off 20 balls), set up a target for KKR which they found difficult with premier batsman Rahul Tripathi injuring his calf muscle.
Sunil Narine (2 for 26) didn't find support from the other bowlers, who conceded too many in the end in a big Dubai International Cricket Stadium ground.
In response, KKR got off to a brilliant start as Venkatesh Iyer and Shubman Gill both scored fifties, but rest of the batters failed to score continuing on their form from the last match.
Shivam Mavi and Lockie Ferguson were the next highest scorers for KKR after their opening pair. That speaks volumes of why they lost the match.
While Thakur (3 for 38) was the top wicket-taker for CSK, Josh Hazlewood (2 for 29) and Ravindra Jadeja (2 for 37) were also among the wickets. Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo also pickeda wicket-a-piece.
Here are the highlight from IPL 2021 Final, CSK vs KKR:
END OF THE MATCH: Shardul Thakur and Faf du Plessis star as Chennai Super Kings seal a 27 run win over Kolkata Knight Riders in IPL 2021 Final.
A single off the last ball and it's all over as CSK and Dhoni win their fourth IPL title following a 27 run victory.
WICKET! Bravo gets a wicket in the final over as he removes Shivam Mavi for 20. KKR - 164/9 in 19.5 overs.
17 runs come from Thakur's final over, but it's a mountain to climb for KKR in the final over. KKR need 31 from 6 balls.
SIX! Ferguson hits Thakur over deep mid-wicket for a maximum. KKR - 162/8 in 19 overs.
FOUR! Ferguson pulls a beamer bowled by Thakur for a boundary towards long leg and it's called a no ball as well. KKR - 152/8 in 18.3 overs.
FOUR! SIX! SIX! Consolation only now as Mavi edges Bravo for a boundary over short third man and follows the next two balls for a maximum. KKR - 145/8 in 18 overs.
2 runs and a wicket ends Hazlewood's spell and the pacer ends with figures of 2 for 29. KKR - 127/8 in 17 overs.
WICKET! Morgan also follows the procession as Hazlewood gets the KKR skipper for 4 after smart work from Chahar in the square leg boundary. KKR - 125/8 in 16.3 overs.
5 runs and a wicket comes from Thakur's third over as Ferguson joins Morgan in the middle for KKR's run chase. KKR - 125/7 in 16 overs.
WICKET! Thakur gets the third of the night as the hobbling Tripathi holes out to Moeen Ali and departs for 2. KKR - 123/7 in 15.4 overs.
Thakur resumes play after the break as an injured Tripathi joins his skipper in the daunting run chase.
At the final time-out of IPL 2021, the script begins to look real as Dhoni is set to lift another IPL trophy as KKR are reduced to 120/6 in 15 overs.
WICKET! Jadeja gets Shakib for a first ball duck. KKR - 120/6 in 15 overs.
WICKET! Jadeja strikes to remove Karthik, who holes out to Rayudu at deep square leg and depart for 9. KKR - 119/5 in 14.5 overs.
9 runs and a wicket come from Chahar's fourth over. KKR - 117/4 in 14 overs
SIX! Karthik opens his account with a pull off Chahar over square leg for a maximum. KKR - 114/4 in 13.3 overs.
WICKET! Chahar strikes as he traps Gill (51) in front of the stumps LBW. KKR - 108/4 in 13.2 overs.
FOUR! And it's 50 up for Gill, who lofts Jadeja over covers for a boundary. KKR - 107/3 in 12.5 overs.
6 and a wicket come from Hazlewood's third over as Morgan joins Gill in the middle as KKR look to get the run chase back on track. KKR - 99/3 in 12 overs.
WICKET! Narine departs for 2 as his pull off Hazlewood finds Jadja in deep square leg. KKR - 97/3 in 11.3 overs.
WICKET! Shardul strikes again as he removes Rana for a golden duck. KKR - 93/2 in 11 overs.
WICKET! Shardul gets the breakthrough as Iyer (50) skies one and Jadeja takes a good catch at deep point. KKR - 91/1 in 10.4 overs.
Shardul Thakur replaces Bravo in the other end as CSK look to break the opening stand.
FOUR! FOUR! Gill reverse sweeps and pulls Jadeja for back-to-back boundaries. KKR - 88/0 in 10 overs.
WICKET! NO! Oh no wait Jadeja thought he gets the breakthrough as Gill holes out to Rayudu, who takes a good catch. But the ball has made connection with camera cables and its decided as a dead ball.
SIX! Iyer sweeps Jadeja over deep square leg for a maximum. KKR - 78/0 in 9.1 overs.
Dwayne Bravo bowls another fine over as he concedes just 4 runs from it. KKR - 72/0 in 9 overs.
SIX! Iyer ends Jadeja's fine over with a maximum. KKR - 68/0 in 8 overs.
Ravindra Jadeja resumes play after the break as CSK aim for the breakthrough.