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An inspired Chennai Super Kings shrugged off the underdogs' tag with a thoroughly comprehensive display to thrash Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets and join Rajasthan Royals in the IPL final.
Punjab's batting had been in superb form through most of the tournament, but they came completely unstuck in the face of some accurate and relentless seam bowling by Chennai's three fast bowlers, managing a paltry 112. Parthiv Patel and Suresh Raina then ensured that the run-chase was a canter, putting together 102 for the second wicket - both ended on unbeaten half-centuries as Chennai sailed home with 31 deliveries to spare.
20 overs Kings XI Punjab 112 for 8 (Powar 28*, Gony 2-14) v Chennai Super Kings
Bowling and fielding with exceptional intensity and focus, Chennai Super Kings restricted Kings XI Punjab to just 112 in the second semi-final in Mumbai and gave themselves an excellent chance to fight for the title. Makhaya Ntini and Manpreet Gony were the stars, striking twice each in their first spells to reduce Punjab to a shambolic 40 for 5 from which they could only partially recover.
Punjab's two previous losses to Chennai had both come when they'd chased, and Yuvraj Singh did the team a huge favour by winning the toss and choosing to bat on a pitch which was expected to assist the spinners later in the evening. That, though, was the only thing that went right for Punjab, as Chennai struck in the second over, and never released the pressure thereafter.
On a pitch offering generous bounce to the fast bowlers, Chennai's pace attack of Ntini, Gony and Albie Morkel bowled in the perfect channel, denying the Punjab batsmen any room to execute strokes through the off side. Learning from Shane Watson's spell on Friday, Ntini pitched it slightly short of a length, hit the bat hard, and hurried the batsmen in their shots, while Gony bowled a fuller length, and with the sort of control which would have made Glenn McGrath proud. Chennai were also superb in the field - Muttiah Muralitharan pulled off a splendid catch over his head to intercept a Yuvraj pull, Suresh Raina was equally spectacular in pulling off a diving catch to dismiss Wilkin Mota late in the innings, while the ground fielding was without blemish.
There was little sign of such a dramatic collapse when Shaun Marsh stroked the first ball of the match - from Muralitharan, surprisingly - through the covers for four. Seven came off that over, but the wheels started coming off in the next over, when James Hopes slashed at a wide one from Ntini and edged to Parthiv Patel.
That dismissal sparked off a procession of wickets, as three more fell in the next four overs. Kumar Sangakkara's was the most bizarre, as he seemed to have missed a drive from a wide ball from Gony, but walked off even though Parthiv didn't appeal at all. Yuvraj was restless after playing out three successive dot balls and pulled to Murali at short midwicket, but the biggest blow was delivered in the next over, when Ntini removed the tournament's highest scorer and most consistent batsman.
Marsh wasn't at his fluent best, top-edging a pull for six off and inside-edging for four in Ntini's second over, but a straight-drive off the same bowler in his next over oozed class. Next ball, though, it was all over for him as another attempted pull misfired, the inside-edge crashed into his stumps.
Clearly rattled by the early wickets, Punjab lost the plot with some terrible running between the wickets, which cost Irfan Pathan his wicket. Mahela Jayawardene stroked the ball to third man, ran two, started for the third and then changed his mind, leaving Pathan with too little time to gain his ground. When Jayawardene himself fell next over, steering to the wicketkeeper, Punjab had slumped to 45 for 6.
From there, it was only an exercise in damage control: Mota and Piyush Chawla added 18 before Murali got into the act with a straighter delivery, while Mota and Ramesh Powar - the two local Mumbai players - put together 35, easily the most productive partnership of the innings. Mota managed a useful 26-ball 25, while Powar smeared Morkel for a huge six over midwicket and then creamed a listless L Balaji for three fours in the last over to bring a semblance of respectability to the total, but a target of 113 is hardly one which will worry Dhoni and his team.
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