This couldn't get better for CSK and the fans. Home win - second in a row as well - what more could a CSK diehard ask for? The MAC, unbreached in 2011 so far, was a sea of yellow. (The seats are yellow too!) All-out support for the likeable CSK, who eventually emerged champion. Not a soul left the stadium till the trophy had been handed over and the victory lap finished. Perhaps this wasn't the closest of games, but no one cared. (Except Gavaskar.) All that Chennai wanted to see was a win - and that they did get!
CSK won the toss and chose to bat. Dhoni always says that anyway, and the Chennai pitch is a slow turner which slows down unbearably as the match progresses. A wise decision anyway. Out came Hussey and Vijay to a roar from the crowd, and neither left for quite a while. They put on the highest opening partnership in the IPL ever - 159 runs. The mammoth partnership featured big shots and energetic running between the wickets. The frantic running seemed to take a toll on Vijay's stamina. Should he have gotten out? Turns out, no. He seemed to get his energy back and made a match-winning 95. Five short of a century, people say. Why don't they look at the fact that it was a brilliant innings, saved for the final? Along with that, Hussey's 63 helped piece together the mammoth stand. Add to that a few chipping-ins from Dhoni and the rest, and a last-ball six from Bravo, and what do you get? The highest total in an IPL final - 205-5. There were two instances of wickets falling from consecutive balls, but that didn't prevent them from reaching 200.
Ashwin was thrown the new ball. The unusual new-ball off-spinner rewarded Dhoni for his decision, and how! He fooled Gayle, the most feared man in RCB, and Dhoni gleefully pouched the edge. The umpire's lifted finger all but meant they had won. Ashwin also removed the other opener, Mayank Agarwal, on his next over. A flash of hope for RCB in the form of a 32-run partnership by Kohli and AB de Villiers went by, but when Jakati picked up the latter, RCB needed one of the middle-order men to fire up. Saurabh Tiwary played a few shots, but it was too late, the title had slipped out of RCB's grasp for the second time.
After the last ball of IPL 2011 - a six, incidentally - the crowd erupted in boundless joy. Ashwin expressed his wish to become the Manchester United of the IPL, while Dhoni praised his openers and Ashwin. The various awards were given away - some funny ones, like Best Pitch and Outfield - before the CSK players received their golds and lifted the trophy - again!
Chennai were deserving winners. They also get to play the Champions League. It is in India, too - will the fortress remain unassailable?
CSK won the toss and chose to bat. Dhoni always says that anyway, and the Chennai pitch is a slow turner which slows down unbearably as the match progresses. A wise decision anyway. Out came Hussey and Vijay to a roar from the crowd, and neither left for quite a while. They put on the highest opening partnership in the IPL ever - 159 runs. The mammoth partnership featured big shots and energetic running between the wickets. The frantic running seemed to take a toll on Vijay's stamina. Should he have gotten out? Turns out, no. He seemed to get his energy back and made a match-winning 95. Five short of a century, people say. Why don't they look at the fact that it was a brilliant innings, saved for the final? Along with that, Hussey's 63 helped piece together the mammoth stand. Add to that a few chipping-ins from Dhoni and the rest, and a last-ball six from Bravo, and what do you get? The highest total in an IPL final - 205-5. There were two instances of wickets falling from consecutive balls, but that didn't prevent them from reaching 200.
Ashwin was thrown the new ball. The unusual new-ball off-spinner rewarded Dhoni for his decision, and how! He fooled Gayle, the most feared man in RCB, and Dhoni gleefully pouched the edge. The umpire's lifted finger all but meant they had won. Ashwin also removed the other opener, Mayank Agarwal, on his next over. A flash of hope for RCB in the form of a 32-run partnership by Kohli and AB de Villiers went by, but when Jakati picked up the latter, RCB needed one of the middle-order men to fire up. Saurabh Tiwary played a few shots, but it was too late, the title had slipped out of RCB's grasp for the second time.
After the last ball of IPL 2011 - a six, incidentally - the crowd erupted in boundless joy. Ashwin expressed his wish to become the Manchester United of the IPL, while Dhoni praised his openers and Ashwin. The various awards were given away - some funny ones, like Best Pitch and Outfield - before the CSK players received their golds and lifted the trophy - again!
Chennai were deserving winners. They also get to play the Champions League. It is in India, too - will the fortress remain unassailable?
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