Reliving the magical moments of the Indian Premier League Final, over the years

5. Chennai Super Kings vs Kolkata Knight Riders – IPL 2012

CSK made it to the finals four out of five times with this season and this was also the third consecutive time. They’ve been a dominant force in the IPL and it was no different in 2012. The fans fancied the ‘Yellow Brigade’ to win the tournament for the third time consecutively. CSK burst into the top four with some great difficulty and there was some severe competition back then. KKR was the first team to enter the finals and CSK got there after defeating DD by a huge 86 runs in the Qualifier-2.

For the third time in a row, MS won the toss and opted to bat first. It was the openers yet again who provided CSK a blistering start. While Hussey went on to score a half-century, Vijay got out in the 40’s. However, the major boost for the innings came from the willow of Mr.IPL, Suresh Raina. He scored 73 off just 38 deliveries to take CSK’s score all up to 190. CSK looked the favorites to win the title at the end of the first innings.

But then, Manvinder Bisla had other plans. He spoiled CSK’s party as he scored a massive 89 off 48 balls to take KKR as close as possible to CSK’s total. He was perfectly complemented by Jacques Kallis who scored 69 off 49. Shakib Al Hasan and Manoj Tiwary ensured that they hit the winning runs earning KKR their first ever IPL title. Furthermore, Gautam Gambhir won the title as the skipper of KKR right in his first season.

Top Performers of the season

Manvinder Bisla was the ‘Man of the Match’ as he provided the much-needed impetus for KKR to win the finals. Sunil Narine, who puzzled all the batsmen with his mystery deliveries was the ‘Player of the Series’ for his brilliance with the ball.

Brief Scores:
CSK: 190/3 in 20 overs ( Suresh Raina 73, Michael Hussey 54, Rajat Bhatia 1/23)
KKR: 192/5 in 19.5 overs ( Manvinder Bisla 89, Jacques Kallis 69, Ben Hilfenhaus 2/25)