IPL Final: Can Dhoni stop Gayle storm?
Their impressive performance at home will stand in good stead when defending champions Chennai Super Kings take on Royal Challengers Bangalore in the grand finale of the Indian Premier League (IPL) at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here Saturday.
Led by India’s World Cup winning captain, Super Kings have won all of their seven league games at home this season and have lost just once in 12 matches over two editions.
The conditions at the Chidambaram stadium also suit the hosts. The low and slow wicket, apprently at the behest of N. Srinivasan, who owns the franchise India Cements. Srinivasan is the secretary and president-elect of the powerful Board of Control for Cricket in India
( BCCI), which owns and runs the IPL.
Chennai coach Stephen Fleming admitted that the home advantage will help his team, but feels that against Royal Challengers Bangalore it will be a tough task.
“What we have picked is a side for these conditions, and we are very proud that we were smart enough to pick a side that would compete well at home,” said the former New Zealand captain.
“We certainly don’t take our home advantage for granted. We are going to have to work equally as hard because the team we will play in the final know they have got to play well to beat us at home.
“We have played some good cricket here. So if you wanted to play the final, it’d certainly be here for us.”
For Chennai, the main threat will be from Jamaican Chris Gayle, who single-handedly turned the fortunes of the Royal Challengers and pulled them out from the bottom of the league to a place in the final.
The West Indies opener has scored 608 runs from just 11 innings to emerge as the highest run-getter in the Twenty20 competition ahead of the likes of Sachin Tendulkar.
Bangalore captain Daniel Vettori hoped Gayle would continue his power hitting.
“It’s certainly not easy to bowl to Gayle, he has been a great asset for us. Conditions are going to suit the Chennai Super Kings in the final but we are up for it,” said Vettori.
Even Tendulkar was all praise for Gayle, whose 89 off 47 balls Friday night crushed the Mumbai Indians in the second qualifier match.
“All credit to Gayle for the way he batted. The way Gayle started, that set the tone for them,” said Tendulkar.