chennai super kings

The 2012 IPL season draws to a close with a clash of the sides that finished fourth and second respectively in the points table. Both sides booked their final places with wins over the Delhi Daredevils in the playoffs, now will it be the Super Kings in their third successive IPL final or the Knight Riders in their first ever that becomes the champions? Andrew Davies previews the action.

Chennai Super Kings to win the match – 1.77

Kolkata Knight Riders to win the match – 2.15

As Chennai finished fourth in the points table they had the toughest task of these two sides to reach the final as they had to face the Mumbai Indians in the Eliminator before facing the Daredevils in the second qualifying match. The Super Kings defeated Mumbai by a massive 38 runs after Michael Hussey and MS Dhoni scored 100 runs between them to score a total of 187 as they came back to score well after losing two wickets for one run. After that they scored a massive 222, with Murali Vijay taking 113, against the Daredevils to put that match beyond Delhi’s reach and to book their place in their third straight final. Can they win their third IPL title in their third IPL final?

The Knight Riders secured their first ever final berth with an 18 run victory over the Delhi Daredevils following an impressive season that saw them finish just a point behind their defeated playoff opponents. They had a fine team performance throughout the season as they were defeated on just five occasions in 16 matches and this team spirit shone out in their playoff performance as all but one of their six batsmen scored at least 24 runs as they set 162 for Delhi to chase. Will we see another fine team performance from Knight Riders to secure their first ever IPL title?

The sides have already met twice this season and they have a win apiece with both games being tight matches. The Knight Riders won the first game by five wickets as they reached 140 runs with just two balls remaining, while the Super Kings triumphed second time around on the last ball of the match. I feel that this game will also be a tight game and could go either way. In fact I think that it’ll be so close that I’m not confident of backing either side, but I do have a bet in mind. Gautam Gambhir has been the outstanding batsman for the Knight Riders this season and I see him relishing the pressure of this final and top scoring for Kolkata, so my money is on him in this IPL final.