South Africa star player Faf du Plessis tꦺook Chennai Super Kings to the final of the Indian Premier League as they beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by 2 wickets in the first qualifier at the Wankhede stadium on Tuesday.
Faf du Plessis remained unbeaten on 67 off 42✅ balls to help CSK chase down 140 in a low-scoring thriller in Mumbai.
The 33-year-old smashed five boundaries and four sixes during his knock to take CSK t♑o their 7th IPL final.
He had started off his innings very slowly and didn’t get to bat for nearly three overs after opening the innings with Shane Watson. But Du Plessis batted superbly in the second half of his knock with the tail-enders – adding 30 runs with Deepak Chahar, 21 runs with Harbhajan Singh and 27* with Shardul Thakur – to take his team over the line with 5 balls to spare.
Suresh Raina also made a useful contribution with 22 runs while Shardul made 15 not out, which included two boundaries off Siddharth Kaul in the penultimate over which tilted the equation in CSK’s favour.
CSK needed 6 runs to win in the final over and du Plessis smacked a six off the first ball from Bhuvneshwar Kumar ๊(1/14) to finish the match with 5 balls to spare 💜and triggered massive celebrations in the CSK dugout.
Earlier, Hyderabad⭕ rode on a quickfire 43 off 29 to pos🍎t 139 for 7 in 20 overs after being put into bat by Dhoni.
The low-scoring match saw the batsmen struggling to score freely and it was only because of Brathwaite’s flourish in the death overs which gave SRH bowlers a defendable score.
Yusuf Pat❀han and captain Kane Williamson also made useful contributions to the total scoring 24 runs each while Shakib Al Hasan (12) and Shreevats Goswami (12) made identical sco😼res as well.
For CSK, Dwayne Bravo picked up two wickets while Deepak Chahar, Lungi Ngidi, Shardul Thakur and 𝄹Ravindra Jadeja g💎ot a wicket each.
Here is how the Twitter world reacted to the Chennai Super Kings run chase:
What a game. A total roller coaster ride. 💧 didn’t lose heart and played their hearts out!! Well done guys 👍
— Sachin Tendulkar (@sachin_rt)
—A tournament where seven team🌄♛s play to meet in the finals. 😊🙏🙌🙇♂️
— Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash)
What an incredible game yet again in🦋 the !! Faf has been pheno🌳menal. Showing all his experience 🔥
— James Taylor (@jamestaylor20)
WOW!!!!!! Another unbelievable win… 🔥 ! Final time 🙌🏼 something seriously special about this franchise! 🦁
— Sam Billings (@sambillings)
If you have supported in and are sꦬtill alive to watch the final on Sunday, your heart is just fine.
— Saurabh Malhotra (@MalhotraSaurabh)
CSK’s success story has been about backing experience over age.�𝄹�👏👏
— Sanjay Manjrekar (@sanjaymanjrekar)
One of the most incredible comebacks in our IPL journey. Sheer delight watching 's one man show along with 's blistering shots in the end. , & were outstanding in 1st inn. One more to go, keep the whistles coming 🦁
— Lakky (@lakshuakku)
Finals we are back!!
— venkat prabhu (@vp_offl)
Mumbai Indians are the only side to win an title after losing 1st qualifier.
They did it twice in 2013 and 2017— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman)
FAF …….
— Michael Vaughan (@MichaelVaughan)
Outstanding
— Graeme Smith (@GraemeSmith49)
Faf Du Plessis take a bow!!! 👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
— Ben Duckett (@BenDuckett1)
CSK ‘s 7 th Final in the IPL, and that too after a come back . What a team – lead by No.7 himself – ! Top class !
— Archana Vijaya (@archanavijaya)
Congratulations to onꦉ being the first side to qualify for the final. Epic from . What a terrific contest
— Scott Styris (@scottbstyris)
From the hea🥀dquarters of the film industry, come the🐠 finest scripts!! .
— Harsha Bhogle (@bhogleharsha)
//twitter.com/daws128/status/998974675895115777
7th IPL final for the Dhoni led in 9 years. No player has ever led his side to so many finals. It's like a special magic that's being weaved year after year. Something that's not quite ordinary. Without doubt the 'BEST SIDE' in IPL ever. Period
— Hemang Badani (@hemangkbadani)
Fantastic finish by Faf… great game to watch!
— Albie Morkel (@albiemorkel)
FAFULOUSLY YOURS!
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL)
🎃What an incredible game. The @VIVOIPL_2018 at 🌼its entertaining best. Well played .
— Kumar Sangakkara (@KumarSanga2)
Individuals can win you matches, but only a team can win you championships, when one fails the other pulls up , doing just that…and not the first time
— S.Badrinath (@s_badrinath)
Well done . Grea𓆉t character an♉d temperament shown by and .
— Pragyan Ojha (@pragyanojha)
Wowsa huge congrats on reaching the fina🌠l in first year back.
— Isa Guha (@isaguha)
Box office 👌
— Eoin Morgan (@Eoin16)
IPL men’s game ✅ bucket list . Congrats
— Danielle Wyatt-Hodge (@Danni_Wyatt)
This is CSK's ninth IPL season and they have reached to the finals seven times. Unbelievable!
— Umang Pabari (@UPStatsman)
What 🃏a wonderful ༒team is. Their self belief and the players standing up in crunch situations is amazing. Brilliant consistency for their qualification to yet another . Their 7th Final 🙌🏻
— Anjum Chopra (@chopraanjum)
Stiff battle of skills and nerves it was. Whisಞtlepodu effort by CSK 💧to win this from a near-impossible position
— Cricketwallah (@cricketwallah)
What a knock u beaut🐼y another finals chennai super king 😊🤟
— Rahul Sharma (@ImRahulSharma3)
Faf Du Plessis finishes in style!
CSK beat SRH by 2 wickets— betvisa69.com (@CricketTimesHQ)
