 The race for the winner of Indian Premier League's fifth season has narrowed down
to three team with the qualifier and eliminator already played. The second qualifier,
to be played on Friday, will determine whether Delhi Daredevils or Chennai Super Kings face Kolkata Knight Riders in Sunday's final.
Delhi Daredevils, the table toppers, suffered a surprising defeat when they
lost by 18 runs to Kolkata Knight Riders. Their ever-reliable batting failed
to fire as a unit with only Mahela Jayawardene and Naman Ojha making
any impact in a 162-run chase that required more contribution from the others
as well. David Warner will be critical to the team's success early on while
captain Virender Sehwag will also need to devise a better strategy for
his bowlers. Morne Morkel failed to pick up a wicket while Varun Aaron
was pounded for 48 runs. The death bowling would be an area of concern, especially
given how Chennai Super Kings scored in the last few overs in their eliminator.
Click for Live Score Card of Chennai Super Kings Vs Delhi Daredevils
Chennai Super Kings continue holding on to the lady luck as they first managed
to sneak through to the eliminator by virtue of favorable outcomes in other
teams' matches and now are within a striking distance of reaching their third
consecutive final. They will yet again depend on Dwayne Bravo and captain
MS Dhoni who both blazed the team to an outstanding total, with over 140 runs
coming off the last nine overs. Dhoni scored 51 off 20 while Bravo had 33 off
14. With the ball, they will again look to be clinical, picking up wickets at
regular intervals and used their variations well in the last match.
Chennai Super Kings will have the luxury of playing the match in front of their
home crowd and they also have the advantage of having outplayed Delhi at the same
ground two weeks ago.
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