~~~CRICKET AROUND THE WORLD!~~~: Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals, final, IPL

Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals, final, IPL

Raina boosts Chennai to 163

June 1, 2008

20 overs Chennai Super Kings 163 for 5 (Raina 43, Parthiv 38, Yusuf 3-22) v Rajasthan Royals
Live scorecard and ball-by-ball details
How they were out

Rajasthan managed to get a breakthrough every time Chennai were forging a partnership © Cricinfo Ltd.

It was a cat-and-mouse battle at the DY Patil Stadium. Unlike in the two semi-finals, neither team held a clear advantage at the end of the first innings. The Chennai Super Kings paced their innings well, not trying anything too rash, and a collective effort took them to a fighting 163.

Rajasthan Royals, who chose to field after winning their 11th toss, weren't as dominant with the ball as they've usually been but Yusuf Pathan's three strikes ensured that the game never really got away. The surface was expected to help the faster men but it was bowlers with variety who prospered as the ball occasionally stopped on the bat. A slow outfield hindered the batting side early on but Suresh Raina's meaty hitting rendered it redundant by the end.

A glittering closing ceremony preceded the game but neither team dazzled early on. The game was played out on an elastic band with both sides vying for the advantage - just as Chennai's batsmen appeared to have sized up the conditions, Rajasthan would strike back with a wicket. Parthiv Patel went about laying the platform sensibly, interspersing judicious glides with clean slaps, before Raina and Mahendra Singh Dhoni took them to a competitive total.

Dhoni had offered a cautionary warning to his batsmen: "The previous games here have not produced too many big totals," he said at the toss, "so it's important that the batsmen realise that and play accordingly." Chennai accordingly ensured they didn't lose the plot - as Punjab had done last night - and did their bit to thwart a sharp bowling attack.

Rajasthan tried to use the short ball against S Vidyut but he backed away and slashed over the third-man region instead, a shot that brought the first six of the match. It was clear that Vidyut was going to get after the bowling as Parthiv playing a steady hand. But his attempt to smash Yusuf out of the ground didn't come off - charging down the track, he wasn't to the pitch of the ball and holed out to deep midwicket, where Ravindra Jadeja snapped up a sharp catch diving forward.

Raina and Patel, the duo who took Chennai to victory last night, put on a useful 25-run stand but it was more accumulation than attack. Parthiv's dismissal, edging to the wicketkeeper and watching Kamran Akmal juggle before completing the catch, allowed Albie Morkel to inject some urgency into the innings. His two sixes over midwicket livened the atmosphere but Yusuf ensured there was no extended fireworks. Akmal held on to a skier from Morkel but the bad news for Rajasthan was that he collided with Mohammad Kaif, who had to leave the field with an injury.

Raina motored along, before holing out to long-off, but it was strange to see Chamara Kapugedera being sent ahead of S Badrinath. Kapugedera pottered around for a 12-ball 8 and it was down to Dhoni to up the rate. Shane Watson's 17th over, where he conceded just 3 and picked up a wicket, appeared to tilt the scales but a few mighty hits from Dhoni took them past 160. Mumbai's match-winning 162 against Delhi has been the highest score on this ground and Dhoni might just think that his side have done enough to put up a serious fight.

Rajasthan Royals 1 Niraj Patel, 2 Swapnil Asnodkar, 3 Kamran Akmal (wk), 4 Shane Watson, 5 Mohammad Kaif, 6 Yusuf Pathan, 7 Ravindra Jadeja 8 Sohail Tanvir, 9 Shane Warne (capt), 10 Siddharth Trivedi, 11 Munaf Patel.

Chennai Super Kings 1 Parthiv Patel (wk), 2 S Vidyut, 3 Suresh Raina, 4 Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt) 5 Chamara Kapugedera, 6 S Badrinath, 7 Albie Morkel, 8 Manpreet Gony, 9 L Balaji, 10 Muttiah Muralitharan, 11 Makhaya Ntini.

Twenty20 match

Indian Premier League - Final
Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals

2007/08 season

Played at Dr DY Patil Sports Academy, Mumbai, on 1 June 2008 - day/night (20-over match)

Result Rajasthan Royals won by 3 wickets (with 0 balls remaining)


Chennai Super Kings innings (20 overs maximum)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
	PA Patel	c Kamran Akmal b Pathan	38	33	5	0	115.15
	S Vidyut	c Jadeja b Pathan	16	14	1	1	114.28
	SK Raina	c Jadeja b Watson	43	30	1	2	143.33
	JA Morkel	c Kamran Akmal b Pathan	16	13	0	2	123.07
	MS Dhoni	not out	29	17	1	2	170.58
	CK Kapugedera	c Asnodkar b Sohail Tanvir	8	12	0	0	66.66
	S Badrinath	not out	6	2	1	0	300.00
	Extras	(b 1, lb 2, w 3, nb 1)	7

	Total	(5 wickets; 20 overs)	163	(8.15 runs per over)

Did not bat M Gony, L Balaji, M Muralitharan, M Ntini

Fall of wickets1-39 (Vidyut, 5.2 ov), 2-64 (Patel, 8.6 ov), 3-95 (Morkel, 12.4 ov), 4-128 (Raina, 16.2 ov), 5-148 (Kapugedera, 19.1 ov)


Bowling	O	M	R	W	Econ
Sohail Tanvir	4	0	40	1	10.00	(1w)
SR Watson	4	0	29	1	7.25	(1nb, 1w)
MM Patel	2	0	14	0	7.00
YK Pathan	4	0	22	3	5.50
SK Trivedi	2	0	21	0	10.50
SK Warne	4	0	34	0	8.50	(1w)


Rajasthan Royals innings (target: 164 runs from 20 overs)			R	B	4s	6s	SR
	NK Patel	b Gony	2	11	0	0	18.18
	SA Asnodkar	c Raina b Morkel	28	20	4	0	140.00
	Kamran Akmal	run out (Ntini)	6	7	1	0	85.71
	SR Watson	b Muralitharan	28	19	3	0	147.36
	YK Pathan	run out (Raina)	56	39	3	4	143.58
	M Kaif	c Dhoni b Muralitharan	12	9	0	1	133.33
	RA Jadeja	c Kapugedera b Morkel	0	1	0	0	0.00
	SK Warne	not out	9	9	1	0	100.00
	Sohail Tanvir	not out	9	7	0	0	128.57
	Extras	(b 1, lb 6, w 5, nb 2)	14

	Total	(7 wickets; 20 overs)	164	(8.20 runs per over)