Rajasthan Royals win a thrilling final, clinch DLF IPL by CricketArchive Staff Reporter

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Scorecard:	Chennai Super Kings v Rajasthan Royals
Player:	PA Patel, SK Raina, V Sivaramakrishnan, MS Dhoni, YK Pathan, SR Watson, SK Warne, Sohail Tanvir
Event:	Indian Premier League 2007/08

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DateLine: 2nd June 2008

 

If there was ever a final that so suited the occasion, it had to be today’s one between the Rajasthan Royals and the Chennai Super Kings at the DLF IPL, which the former won by three wickets off the last delivery of the match.

 

Shane Warne won the toss at the Dr. D.Y. Patil stadium and decided to field first as he had been through the tournament in night games. The Chennai openers began well enough, with 39 added for the first wicket between Parthiv Patel and S. Vidyut, before the latter holed out Ravindra Jadeja off part time off-spinner Yusuf Pathan. But Pathan was not done yet; he went on to claim a couple of more wickets, including Patel and the big hitting Morkel, to put brakes on the scoring. Dhoni and Suresh Raina did steady the ship, but an untimely loss of Raina in the 17th over meant that the Super Kings scored only 21 runs in the 3 overs leading upto the last. Dhoni and Badrinath managed to score 15 runs off the last over, and got them to a respectable 163/5 in twenty overs.

 

Mohammad Kaif and Kamran Akmal were involved in a disastrous on-field collision that had both of them flat for more than a couple of moments. Luckily, no major injuries were reported for either.

 

Royals replied with Niraj Patel and Swapnil Asnodkar, but Patel departed early to Manpreet Gony. Akmal came in at three, but the duo departed soon enough, to leave the Royals stuttering at 42/2 in the seventh. It was here that Yusuf Pathan’s entry changed things around. Pathan was a little nervous to begin with, but soon got into his rhythm. He did not hesitate in taking Muralitharan on and slammed him for a couple of sixes. Watson tried to copy his partner, but was bowled, and when Mohammad Kaif, Jadeja and Pathan left in quick succession, the match could have gone any way. Luckily, in Warne and Sohail Tanvir, the Royals had two cool heads that achieved the target of eight runs needed off the last over to win the first season of the DLF IPL for their team. Off the last ball, if one may add!

 

The Man-of-the-Match award went to Yusuf Pathan for his three wickets and scintillating knock of 56, where as Shane Watson won the Man-of-the-Series. Sohail Tanvir won the purple cap for the most wickets in the tournament, where as Shaun Marsh won the orange one for the maximum runs.