On October 15, 2021, Chennai Super Kings (CSK) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders by 27 runs in the final of IPL 2021 to win the tournament for the fourth time.
CSK’s bowling unit worked collectively, with different players chipping in different games and even different passages within a game to provide crucial breakthroughs. In fact, Shardul Thakur was the only CSK bowler who finished in the top five of the season’s wicket-takers chart. With 21 wickets from 16 matches, Thakur finished fourth in the most wickets table. CSK, however, had three more players in the top 20. Dwayne Bravo (14 wickets from 11 matches), Deepak Chahar (14 wickets from 15 matches) and Ravindra Jadeja (13 wickets from 16 matches) finished 15th, 17th and 19th respectively this season. With Josh Hazlewood also picking 11 wickets from the nine matches he played in the tournament, it meant that all five bowlers who bowled in the final had finished with more than 10 wickets in the tournament.
Faf du Plessis was CSK’s hero in the final against KKR. His 59-ball 86, which was dotted with seven fours and three sixes, helped CSK post 192 for three in their 20 overs, a total that proved 27 runs too many for KKR.
This victory was CSK’s fourth IPL triumph. They are only behind Mumbai Indians, who have won the tournament on five occasions, for most IPL titles in the history of the competition.
This was the ninth time CSK were playing in the final of the IPL. This means that even though CSK have a phenomenal record in the competition, they have actually lost more finals than they have won so far. CSK’s IPL triumphs came in 2010, 2011, 2018 and 2021. They lost in the final on five occasions-2008, 2012, 2013, 2015 and 2019.
CSK also made it to the semi-finals in 2009 and the play-offs in 2014. This means that CSK made it to the knock-out stages on 11 out of the 12 occasions they took part having been suspended from the IPL in 2016 and 2017.
The 2020 edition was the only one when they played and didn’t qualify for the knock-out stages, making their come-back and victory in 2021 all the more special.
CSK openers Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis were the chief architects of CSK’s success on the batting front. Gaikwad finished with the Orange Cap for most runs scored in IPL 2021-635 runs from 16 matches. Faf du Plessis wasn’t too far behind, hitting 633 runs from 16 games, finishing second in the most runs in the season table.
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