The final no one expected

Manish Pandey,who hit a century in the last game,started the chase off in style,hitting Albie Morkel past cover and then square-driving him with great finesse. At the other end,Jacques Kallis smashed two consecutive fours past point off Manpreet Gony to get them underway.

Kallis and Roelof van der Merwe fell early,leaving Bangalore at a precarious 22-2,but Chennai8217;s new-ball bowlers couldn8217;t keep Pandey quiet.

With the pacers disappointing,Dhoni turned to Shadab Jakati8217;s left-arm spin in the fifth over,but Dravid proved up to the challenge as they maintained a run-rate just under 10-an-over. As a last throw of the dice,Dhoni introduced Murali in the 10th over,but while there were two big appeals,nothing went Chennai8217;s way as Bangalore got to the break at 82/2.

Earlier in the evening,Mathew Hayden and Parthiv Patel gave Chennai an enterprising start after being put into bat. Parthiv often outscored Hayden as the duo added 61 runs for the first wicket before Vinay Kumar got rid of the Aussie.

Bangalore realised the need to take the pace off the ball as Dhoni,who walked in at number 3,and Raina,one of their leading run-scorers,couldn8217;t keep the momentum going.

Kumble kept the pressure on the Chennai batting,rotating his bowlers smartly,and Chennai kept losing wickets at regular intervals. Only a few big hits from Morkel took them to a respectable total.