Beyond the Boundary: The final four

And then there were four. Mumbai Indians, imperious and conquering, made it to the semi finals first. Royal Challengers Bangalore got through the day they beat Rajasthan Royals. And on Sunday, April 18, two teams - Chennai Super Kings and the Deccan Chargers - made the finals in contrasting styles.

In a match played at high altitude, where the thin air helps the ball travel further, MS Dhoni produced a clutch of big shots, scoring 28 of the last 29 runs and powering Chennai Super Kings to an incredible victory over Kings XI Punjab. Needing 195 to win, Raina, Badrinath and then Dhoni combined to put together a match-winning performance.



The Deccan Chargers, on the other hand, combined well on the field as a team to defend a par total of 145 against the Delhi Daredevils. Andrew Symonds stroked a powerful 50 but none of the other batsmen did much. On the field though, the Chargers defended with enthusiasm to take the remaining spot.



Now to the sudden death stage. An inch here, a misfield there, could settle things. Performances in the league stage won’t matter anymore. All teams are now equal.

Posted by Sajith Sivanandan (When not attempting to get selected for IPL in the year 2020, Sajith works at Google Singapore)