Chennai Super Kings have retained the Indian Premier League title after thrashing Royal Challengers Bangalore by 58 runs in the final at M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.
Chennai Super Kings were in control throughout the match – their unbeaten home record never in danger – thanks initially to Murali Vijay and Michael Hussey, who got them off to the perfect start with a huge 159-run opening partnership.
Chennai Super Kings celebrate after winning the IPL.
The Super Kings didn’t look back, eventually piling on a total of 205 for five from their 20 overs. Royal Challengers Bangalore’s hopes of reaching that target were crushed in the first over of their innings, when Chris Gayle – the tournament’s leading run-scorer and winner of the “Golden Player” award – was out for a duck.
Gayle has been nothing short of amazing during IPL4, smashing a total of 608 runs in just 12 matches, so it was no surprise that the Chennai players went absolutely bananas after he was caught behind by M.S. Dhoni on R. Ashwin’s fourth delivery.
From that moment, it was a procession for Chennai Super Kings – their victory a certainty – and they restricted their opponents to a total of just 147. Gayle had such an impact on Royal Challengers Bangalore, the runners up in IPL2, that they became a one-man team this year, despite the presence of other big stars like A.B. de Villiers, Virat Kohli and Daniel Vettori.
In contrast, Chennai Super Kings have consistently played as a unit throughout the tournament. Everyone contributed, from Indian players such as Suresh Raina, S. Badrinath and R. Ashwin, to overseas stars like Hussey, Albie Morkel and Doug Bollinger.
But there’s one man who deserves special praise – Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who is well on his way to becoming the best captain world cricket has ever seen. It’s been a fantastic year for Dhoni, first leading India to World Cup glory and then captaining IPL4 winners Chennai Super Kings, the only franchise to have ever won the IPL more than once.
Dhoni will now take a few weeks rest, missing India’s One Day International series in the West Indies, but he’ll rejoin the team for the Test matches there. Under Dhoni, India has risen to the No.1 ranked Test team in the world, while he also captained Chennai to the Champions League title last year.
Essentially he’s won everything there is to win in cricket, and he’s not even 30-years old yet.
R. Ashwin, left, celebrated with S. Badrinath and Suresh Raina after claiming Chris Gayle’s wicket.
Many people had expected the Mumbai Indians or Kolkata Knight Riders to win the 2011 IPL, but I said right from the start that Chennai Super Kings were set for glory with Dhoni at the helm.
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