It is safe to say that the playoff fixtures until now have been some of the best we've seen in recent years and finally, we have our finalists for the final game of the IPL 2021 season.
It is Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of the Indian Premier League 2021. Chennai Super Kings got there after beating Delhi Capitals, the table-toppers in the Qualifier 1, while Kolkata reached the finals by beating Virat Kohli's Bangalore first followed by DC in the Qualifier 2 in a match that was one-sided until the final couple of overs.
So who takes the trophy this time? CSK are eyeing their fourth whereas KKR would be looking to tie the trophy count with CSK by winning the final on October 15.
Any idea of their head-to-head record? Today, we at Cricwizz present to you the head-to-head record between the two teams, emphasising their last five meetings. Let's begin!
1) Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (September 26 2021)
The Sheikh Zayed Stadium hosted this match and Kolkata were batting first after winning the toss. They finished their innings with 171 on the board, with Rahul Tripathi as their highest scorer with 45 runs.
Chennai had a great start, with Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis batting like never before as Chennai were above the 70-run mark in just the ninth over. However, the same over saw Gaikwad's dismissal (40).
After a couple of overs, Faf was dismissed too on 43 and Chennai started to feel some pressure. However, things escalated quickly as another couple of overs later, they lost their third wicket, Moeen Ali for 32 and Chennai were now 119/3 in the 15th over.
They needed over 50 runs in the last five overs but they couldn't put things to bed early as the wickets kept falling. However, "Sir" Ravindra Jadeja put Chennai right back in the game after smashing Prasidh Krishna for 21 runs, as Chennai needed just four off the final over.
Sunil Narine was the bowler who started the over with a wicket, dismissing Sam Curran, followed by a Shardul Thakur, who was completely stunned by Narine's spin.
However, the third ball saw some innovation as Thakur scooped the ball to fine leg, picking three runs and ascertained Chennai's win, at least as per 95% people.
But there was more drama to unfold as he bowled a dot to Jadeja on the fourth ball, followed by an LBW dismissal to send Jadeja back to the pavilion. Chennai needed 1 off the last bowl and believe it or not, Chennai escaped a loss after Deepak Chahar managed to hit the ball out of the circle and steal the single. What a nail-biter that was!
What a start! The score is CSK: 1 KKR:0
2) Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (April 21 2021)
Kolkata Knight Riders had won the toss at the Wankhede Stadium and were bowling first. Chennai were prepared to take the challenge and posted a mammoth total of 220/3 in 20 overs.
Ruturaj Gaikwad scored 64, Faf du Plessis scored an unbeaten 95 and was unfortunate to not have completed a century, and Moeen Ali and the skipper MS Dhoni chipped in with 25 and 17 respectively.
Kolkata Knight Riders had to start well if they wanted to win the match but their start was the contrary of what they were anticipating.
Deepak Chahar's brilliant spell of 4/29 dismantled the KKR top order and the game was also considered dead. However, there was more to come.
Out of nowhere, Dinesh Karthik and Andre Russell started scoring sixes for fun and while Chennai may have thought that it was just a matter of one or two overs, Kolkata barely took time to make Dhoni and co. feel that they were starting to lose their grip on the match.
From 5/31 in 5.2 overs, KKR jumped to 112 for 5 in 11 overs until Andre Russell was dismissed by Sam Curran, a deceptive ball that took Russell by surprise. Pat Cummins, who came out to bat next, did not waste even a single ball and started thrashing the CSK bowlers.
After Dinesh Karthik lost his wicket on the final ball of the 15th over, KKR'S tail couldn't take the pressure and started tumbling.
However, it didn't affect Pat Cummins who kept batting in his ferocious style and got KKR closer to the total. Two insensible runouts at the end cost Kolkata the match as they couldn't even let Pat Cummins continue his explosive batting because had he played a few more deliveries, he would've won the game for his side.
But we can't ignore that the runouts involved Cummins and his decision-making too. Sadly, Kolkata lost the match despite making such a strong comeback. Chennai double their lead.
CSK:2 KKR:0
3) Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (October 29 2020)
Chennai had won the toss and were bowling first in Dubai. Kolkata finished their batting with 172 on the board, courtesy of Nitish Rana's 87, while no other player managed to cross the 30-run mark.
In response, CSK batted well despite Shane Watson's early dismissal and Ruturaj Gaikwad's 78, and Ambati Rayudu's 38 helped Chennai get back in the game. However, the two got out soon and Chennai were under trouble again.
But Ravindra Jadeja brilliant batting form continued as he scored 31 off just 11 deliveries with a strike rate of 281.82, firing two fours and three sixes. Chennai won the match by six wickets.
Chennai on a roll. CSK:3 KKR:0
4) Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (October 7 2020)
Kolkata were the toss winners this time and they elected to bat first at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium, Abu Dhabi.
KKR posted a total of 167, with Rahul Tripathi's 81 being the main share of the total, while the others stayed below 20. Dwayne Bravo picked 3 wickets.
Chennai had a great start but despite that, they failed to see out the game as they lost the match by 10 runs. Watson scored 50, while Rayudu scored 30.
Highest Score for KKR in 2020 IPL
— CricBeat (@Cric_beat) October 29, 2020
Nitish Rana - 87
Rahul Tripathi - 81
Both against CSK#KKRvsCSK
Kolkata open their account! The score is CSK: 3 KKR: 1
5) Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders (April 14 2019)
Chennai Super Kings had won the toss and were bowling first at the Eden Gardens. Kolkata scored 161 in 20 overs, once again, one man scoring 50% or more runs for them, Chris Lynn in this case as he scored 82.
Imran Tahir picked 4/27. Chennai were chasing 162 and they lost Watson early. However, Faf du Plessis and Suresh Raina batted beautifully in the middle and kept the scoreboard ticking.
Raina stayed unbeaten scoring 58, while Jadeja scored 31 as Chennai won the match by 5 wickets,
Wow, so the score is CSK:4 KKR:1.
Can Kolkata settle scores by beating them in a very crucial encounter? Or will Chennai come on top again? We'll have the answer soon. Stay tuned with Cricwizz for the best cricket content.
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