2008: Rajasthan Royals vs Chennai Super Kings
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The inaugural final of the Indian Premier League pitted Shane Warne against Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the DY Patil Stadium in Mumbai. Warne had shepherded his young team to the finals, earning plaudits along the way.
Warne won the toss and chose to bowl, confident of restricting the Chennai line-up, dubbing his team the “best bowling side”.Yusuf Pathan accounted for the top two batsmen after Parthiv Patel had started off adventurously. Raina came in at No.3, confident on the back of a 55 against the KXIP in the semi-finals. He was followed by Albie Morkel, and the two started targeting Warne and Pathan.
With the score at 95-3 in the 13th over, Dhoni came into the middle, and hit a swift 17-ball 29 to take Chennai past 160, a competitive score on that track.
Niraj Patel opened with Swapnil Asnodkar for Rajasthan, with no Graeme Smith in the line-up. Patel and Kamran Akmal were dismissed cheaply, and Albie Morkel accounted for the dangerous Asnodkar in the first ball of his spell. With the score reading 42-3, Watson required support at the other end. Yusuf Pathan came in and changed the match on its head. With 102 required from 65 balls. Pathan started freeing his arms, and Watson started finding gaps at will. The partnership crossed 50 and Muralitharan had been taken to the cleaners. He had the last laugh, slipping a quick yorker through Watson’s defences, and getting the balance back in the game.With 57 needed off 35, the experienced Mohammad Kaif walked in.
Pathan continued his carnage at the other end and got to his 50 with a six. With 25 needed off 19, Muralitharan foxed Kaif with a flighted one, and Jadeja fell off the very next ball. And, with 21 required off 15, Yusuf Pathan was run-out, leaving Shane Warne to face the last two overs with Sohail Tanvir.
The duo ran hard to put the equation in their favour, and Tanvir swatted a short ball from Balaji past mid on to get to the winning runs.
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