You can be excited that the culmination of biggest event of the world of league cricket is upon us, or you can be disappointed that the yearly IPL cricket carnival is almost at an end. Either way, we are set to witness a good contest; and the format of the competition ensures the final clash will be between the best two teams of the competition – the Mumbai Indians and the Chennai Super Kings. We look at the final points table at the end of the group stage and the playoff matches that setup the IPL 2019 final:
Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab, Rajasthan Royals and Royal Challengers Bangalore were knocked out. Though MI, CSK and Delhi Capitals made it to the semifinal stage decidedly, the fourth spot was in doubt for a while. Ultimately it was Sun Risers Hyderabad who made it.
It was always going to be a big showdown, the Mumbai Indians having been the only team to have managed to lay low the Chennai team.
Referencing MI’s ownership, this tweet speaks about the decision of CSK to bat first after winning the toss; which turned out to be a bad one.
When CSK managed just 131 fans were nervous. Turns out they were right to be nervous since MI romped home with 6 wickets and 9 balls to spare.
The Dhoni magic didn’t work.
This was a knockout game between the 3rd and 4th teams on the points table. SRH’s was knocked out when 162 was not enough to prevent DC from getting to the finish line; albeit in a closely fought match with just one ball to spare at the end.
And everyone wanted to know why he was not picked for the national world cup squad.
There were of course postmortems conducted by the armchair experts who felt that they could have made better decisions for their team. At SRH’s ouster, one commentator drily observed: “Not the first time Hyderabad got eliminated from Andhra Pradesh.”
This was the second qualifier where the team with the second highest points on the table took on the team that won the knockout match. A confident CSK restricted DC to 147 and then surpassed the target with 6 wickets and 6 balls to spare.
Getting to the final is almost a routine for the CSK team. Apart from Dhoni, it is the team's consistent and professional performance that makes such dedicated fans.
This match sealed the deal for CSK. While DC succumbed rather tamely, the Chennai team inexorably made their way to their 8th IPL final.
Chennai Super King and Mumbai Indians have consistently been the best two teams of this season and they deserve to be in the final. Fans expect a keenly fought IPL final between two well-matched teams; each having won the title three times. Who will win it a fourth time? The final at Hyderabad on Sunday 12th May will reveal all.
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