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The Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets in Mumbai, on May 31, 2008 to reach the finals of the Indian Premier League 2008. Sunday's final will now be played between the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings.
Chennai won the match quite easily after they restricted the Punjab side for a mere 112 for the loss of 8 wickets. These 112 runs never seemed to be a big task for the Chennai team who romped on a second wicket stand of a brilliant 102 runs between Parthiv Patel (51) and Suresh Raina (55). The only way the Kings XI could have won this contest is if they could have taken some early wickets but unfortunately they just could not.
Kings XI Punjab did, however dismissed opener S.Vidyut for six runs to reduce Chennai to 14 for one wicket, but after that the deadly combination of Patel and Raina took the match home for them. Both the batsmen scored at a very good pace and completed their run chase in only 14.5 overs.
Opener Vidyut lost his wicket when he mistimed a pull off Irfan Pathan and put up a very easy catch to short mid wicket to bring in Raina. Then, it was Raina who carried on his good show along with Parthiv Patel, who hit eight fours. This duo carried on the Chennai team quite easily to the victory point. Raina hit four sixes, one of which was a huge one going over the roof of the stadium.
Earlier in the day, the superb pace bowling of the Chennai team ripped through the defenses of the Punjab XI, ultimately restricting them to a very low total. After winning the toss, Yuvraj Singh opted to bat first. Half of the Punjab side was back in the pavilion with only 40 runs on the scoreboard. Makhaya Ntini and Manpreet Singh Gony bowled some real good overs and took wickets at regular intervals.
Now, the finals of the Indian Premier League 2008 will be played between the Chennai Super Kings and the Rajasthan Royals on Sunday, 1st June 2008. Both the teams will be playing for a grand cash prize of USD 1.2 million.
Brief Score
Kings XI Punjab – 112/8 in 20 overs
Chennai Super Kings – 116/1 in 14.5 overs
Man of the Match – M.Ntini (Chennai Super Kings)
