As the seasons progress, the IPL is turning into a tournament where all teams fight it out to get a right to play Chennai Super Kings in the final. Their 9th final in 12 seasons of the IPL (they were not part of two seasons). And the players who weren't succeeding in their team are now blooming too. They can relax for five days and watch the next few games as they prepare to meet the second finalist. But nothing of that sort for me and you: tomorrow it's the eliminator. Kolkata Knight Riders v Royal Challengers Bangalore: loser goes home, winner meets Delhi Capitals. See you then.

10pm Time for the presentation.

MS Dhoni: "My innings was a crucial one. Delhi has a very good bowling attack. They exploited the conditions well, so we knew it would be tough. I've not done a lot in the tournament, so wanted to look for the ball and see what the bowler can do. I was batting well in the nets. But wasn't thinking too much, if you think too much while batting then you mess your plans up. Shardul has done decent batting, as has Deepak. He/they are allowed to go for the shots from first ball unlike other top-order batters. Robin enjoys batting at the top but Moeen has been excellent at No. 3. But we have created a situation where either of them could bat at No. 3 depending on the situation and the opposition. Whenever Ruturaj and I have a chat, its a simple chat. Want to know what he was thinking. Its good to see how well he has improved. He is someone willing to bat 20 overs. Last season was the first time we didnt qualify into playoffs. But we wanted to just make use of the 3-4 games left last season, and a lot of our batters made use of that. That is the reason why we have come back strongly this season.

Player of the Match Ruturaj Gaikwad (70): "I try to stay neutral. Every game is new so need to start afresh, need to start new. The powerplay was the crucial stage, the wicket was holding a little bit. Robin batted really well, took on bowlers. It got easier for me to stay there till the end. At times you have to take the odd risk. You have to take it one over at a time, so that required rate doesnt go up too much. Want to stay humble."

notMSD: "So what about MoM? Robbie should get the MoM but I think they will give it to Rutu!" -- Echo your sentiment.

Uthappa after the fifty: "Feeling grateful and happy to be able to contribute. Today is my son's fourth birthday... We knew we had to get to a good start. There is nothing serious with that injury. There is four days to go, so should be good. There were when there were doubts [whether he would play or not]. You listen to a lot of chatter that is happening outside. I just felt I would be able to contribute. This is one of the most secure franchises going around. That only makes a player give that much back to the franchise. The final is going to be interesting. Just wanted to say to everyone out there: let's be kind."

srib: "How much will capitals rue 4 dot balls in their final 7 deliveries. Could have easily been an extra 8-10 runs"

Pant after that close loss: "Obviously it is very disappointing, and I can't have enough words to describe how we are feeling. [Decision for the last over?] I thought Tom bowled beautifully throughout the match, and so I thought better to use him for the last over. The score was decent, and they got off to a flier. That was the main difference. We are going to rectify our mistakes, learn from it and hopefully, we can move on and play the final."

Parvesh: "Impact innings from Dhoni after a long time. What a time to get it! "

sravan: "The secret sauce to CSK's victory is at least one of the openers playing through for about 15 overs."

9.46pm So Dhoni - after Gaikwad and Uthappa - ensures Super Kings hunt down a formidable score. Final No. 9 for them in IPL. Valiant effort from Capitals - and take nothing away from Iyer's brilliance in the field - but they fall short. Super Kings win against Capitals after four losses in a row.

19.4
4
Curran to Dhoni, FOUR, crunches that pull to deep square leg, and wraps that up for Super Kings. Another final for his side, and Dhoni leads from the front to finish off the chase with an unbeaten 18 from just 6 balls. Curran bowls short and wide of off, and Dhoni pulls away from his body to the shorter boundary. No man at deep square means there is all the space available for him to slam that

4 from 3 now, as Dhoni fixes his gloves.

Ahsan Butt: "Thalaaaaa!"

19.4
1w
Curran to Dhoni, 1 wide, very full and wide of off. Left alone, and that is a wide. Bonus for Super Kings
19.3
4
Curran to Dhoni, FOUR, inside edge, and four more! Some luck running Super Kings' way here. Dhoni plays away from his body to this full delivery wide of off, and looks to heave at that, as the bat turns in his hands. The ball evades the off stump, and Dhoni collects four behind the wicket to beat Pant to his left

9 from 4...

Shonit: "Dhoni and Jadeja together in a chase always takes me back to Manchester"

19.2
4
Curran to Dhoni, FOUR, slammed over extra cover! Back of a length outside off, and gives Dhoni enough room despite going with a change of pace. Dhoni leaps in his crease, and rams that away for four

Curran on a hat-trick, mind you. He got Thakur off his last ball. Over the wicket to Dhoni.

Jadeja in now, but Dhoni on strike.

19.1
W
Curran to Ali, OUT, pulls, but finds deep square leg! Another blow for Super Kings here. This was bowled short and on off, and Moeen seemed to have been beaten by the lack of pace, ballooning the ball right where Rabada was waiting. That is a wicket, and of course a dot ball to start the final over

MM Ali c Rabada b Curran 16 (27m 12b 2x4 0x6) SR: 133.33

Curran to his England team-mate Moeen. Around the wicket.

13 off 6. Phew!

END OF OVER:
19 | 11 Runs 1 Wkt | CSK: 160/5 (13 runs required from 6 balls, RR: 8.42, RRR: 13.00)

  • MS Dhoni6 (3b)
  • Moeen Ali16 (11b)
  • Avesh Khan4-0-47-1
  • Anrich Nortje4-0-31-1
18.6
0
Avesh Khan to Dhoni, no run, again he is beaten by the slower ball! Some cat-and-mouse stuff here. This is bowled with a change of pace, and full and wide of off. Dhoni looks to play from his crease, and misses
18.5
6
Avesh Khan to Dhoni, SIX, whack comes the sound, and the ball clears deep midwicket! Short delivery outside off, and he is sitting deep in his crease to pummel that with a pleasing sound. The boundary there was big, but he still cleared that with ease
18.4
0
Avesh Khan to Dhoni, no run, beats Dhoni with a slower ball! He is into his pull early, and is bottom hand is off as he looks to hammer that fullish ball outside off

Over the wicket to Dhoni

18.3
1
Avesh Khan to Ali, 1 run, jams this yorker a touch wide of off, as Moeen runs that down to third man
18.2
4
Avesh Khan to Ali, FOUR, Moeen finds the gap with that slice! Another low full-toss and a touch wide of off, as Moeen slices with the open face of the bat to deep point

Dhoni in before Jadeja. But will be off strike.

Win probability is now 27% for Super Kings now after that wicket.

18.1
W
Avesh Khan to Gaikwad, OUT, Axar takes it nice and low on deep midwicket! Gaikwad went deep in his crease to hammer that low full-toss on off, but ended up getting it from the inside half of the bat. Axar had to run in forward, and then dive falling on his elbow

RD Gaikwad c Patel b Avesh Khan 70 (93m 50b 5x4 2x6) SR: 140.00

Saurabh: "Cricinfo predictor is behaving like a seesaw...." --- But isn't the match behaving the same way too?

24 from 12...

END OF OVER:
18 | 11 Runs | CSK: 149/4 (24 runs required from 12 balls, RR: 8.27, RRR: 12.00)

  • Ruturaj Gaikwad70 (49b)
  • Moeen Ali11 (9b)
  • Anrich Nortje4-0-31-1
  • Avesh Khan3-0-36-0
17.6
1
Nortje to Gaikwad, 1 run, outside edge, flies to third man and on a few bounces to Rabada there. Looks to pull this delivery on off, but it is not all that short for that shot
17.5
4
Nortje to Gaikwad, FOUR, dances down, and reaches out for that wide yorker outside off to slam that to deep backward point. Opens the bat face, and almost loses his bottom hand, and gets a four again. That is now 602 runs for him this season
17.4
1
Nortje to Ali, 1 run, goes for the pull, and the ball lands on the bounce to deep midwicket running forward. Short delivery just outside off, and he fails to connect

Sathish: "CSK did not make most of that Avesh Khan over. Not Tom Curran will be the only bowler they can go hard at "

17.3
1
Nortje to Gaikwad, 1 run, yorker on middle and off, and drilled to long-on with the closed face of the bat
17.2
0
Nortje to Gaikwad, no run, good length ball just outside off, and with a change of pace. He misses his pull, as he is beaten by the lack of pace
17.1
4
Nortje to Gaikwad, FOUR, Hetmyer at mid-off dives to his right, but can't get a hand! Gaikwad gets a half-volley just outside off, and he closes the face to loft that just past the fielder's outstretched right hand. Gaikwad now gets to 400 runs just in this UAE leg

Nortje to finish off.

This is getting tasty now. Who are you rooting for?

END OF OVER:
17 | 9 Runs | CSK: 138/4 (35 runs required from 18 balls, RR: 8.11, RRR: 11.66)

  • Ruturaj Gaikwad60 (44b)
  • Moeen Ali10 (8b)
  • Avesh Khan3-0-36-0
  • Anrich Nortje3-0-20-1
16.6
1
Avesh Khan to Gaikwad, 1 run, another full-toss outside off, and heaved to deep midwicket
16.5
4
Avesh Khan to Gaikwad, FOUR, gentle clip, and a four! It was a near waist-high full-toss on middle, as he stood across off and flicked that between fine leg and deep square firmly, even if it was travelling to the longer part of the ground
16.4
1
Avesh Khan to Ali, 1 run, lands a yorker wide of off, and Moeen can only jam that out to third man
16.3
1
Avesh Khan to Gaikwad, 1 run, change of pace on a short of a length outside off, and pulls that to long-on. Again Iyer runs to his right and throws back in time to keep that to one

CSK 2nd innings Partnerships

WktRunsPlayers
1st3F du PlessisRD Gaikwad
2nd110RV UthappaRD Gaikwad
3rd4SN ThakurRD Gaikwad
4th2AT RayuduRD Gaikwad
5th30MM AliRD Gaikwad
6th11MS DhoniMM Ali
7th13MS DhoniRA Jadeja