Journalism of Courage
The Chennai Super Kings have won the Indian Premier League for a record-equaling fifth time with a last-ball, five-wicket victory over the defending champion Gujarat Titans.
Ravindra Jadeja plundered a six and a four from the last two deliveries against Mohit Sharma to help the Super Kings chase down a revised target of 171 runs in 15 overs.
Set a revised target after rain interrupted play at the start of the second innings of a final that was pushed to the reserve day owing to heavy downpour, CSK completed the task in the last ball at a packed Narendra Modi Stadium.
CSK all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja, who hit a six and four in the last two balls to seal the record-equalling fifth title for CSK, dedicated the win to skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni, who probably played his last IPL game on Monday. "Feels amazing, winning my fifth title in front of my home crowd. I'm from Gujarat, and it's a special feeling. This crowd has been amazing. They were waiting for rain to stop till late night, I'd like to say a big congratulations to the CSK fans who came to support us. "I'd like to dedicate this win to a special member of the CSK side, MS Dhoni," he said.
Neither the juggernaut of the Gujarat Titans nor bad weather for two days could stop Dhoni's men from drawing level with their arch rivals Mumbai Indians, in terms of most IPL trophy wins.
It remains to be seen whether Dhoni would return to lead CSK once again next year or not, as the entire IPL and even the final was all about Dhoni-mania.
The fans filled the Narendra Modi Stadium to the brink for two days, remained undeterred when the weather went awry, waited for a truncated match to start well beyond midnight on Monday — all this to see Dhoni winning the IPL again. In the end, CSK prevailed over the defending champions via the Duckworth-Lewis-Stern Method.
The IPL needed three days to complete the final. It was washed out on Sunday, started late Monday and finished after 1:30 a.m. local time on Tuesday. But it was worth it.
