MS Dhoni and Eoin Morgan will call the last toss of IPL 2021 on Friday as Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders faceoff in the season finale at the Dubai International Stadium. 

Going by statistics, CSK do have an upper hand. They will be making their ninth final appearance in 12 editions (they were suspended in two). However, Kolkata Knight Riders, who have made two final appearance – 2012, 2014 – won both and coincidentally in 2012 it was CSK on the losing side. 

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Here is a look at Kolkata Knight Riders’ and Chennai Super Kings; clashes in 2012 IPL final:

Kolkata Kinght Riders were first-time finalists against the Chennai Super Kings, who were eyeing an hattrick of titles. 

Batting first, Chennai got off to a flier as openers Murali Vijay (42) and Michael Hussey (54) put up 87 runs for the first wicket in 10.2 overs. Mr IPL Suresh Raina then built on the platform, striking at  192.10 to help CSK put up a big total of 190/3 on the board.

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With a mammoth 191-run target to chase, KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir was dismissed in the first over of the second innings. However, it was Jacques Kallis and Manvinder Bisla rose to the occasion and added 136 runs for the second wicket.

Kallis scored 69 before being dismissed on the penultimate ball off the 19th over. Bisla scored 89 off just 48 balls hitting eight fours and five sixes. He was dismissed in the 15th over of the innings with the team score on 139.

Also read: IPL 2021: Kolkata Knight Riders’ road to the final

The equation came down to 60 runs needed in 30 balls. KKR lost  Yusuf Pathan and Laxmi Ratan Shukla in quick succession. However, Shakib Al Hasan (11) and Manoj Tiwari (9) managed to hang around as KKR chased the total with two deliveries to spare. 

In 2014, Kolkata Knight Riders won the title after chasing 200 runs to and handing the Kings XI Punjab a defeat in the final. 

Coming to the 2021 season, CSK’s chances of winning a fourth title will depend on how well they handle the 12 overs from KKR’s spin trio of Varun Chakravarthy (economy rate 6.40), Shakib Al Hasan (ER:6.64) and Sunil Narine (ER:6.44), who have been outstanding in this tournament.

In fact, Shakib’s all-round abilities have provided more balance to KKR during the business end once Andre Russell sustained a hamstring injury.

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Teams: Kolkata Knight Riders: Eoin Morgan (Captain), Dinesh Karthik, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Karun Nair, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathy, Shubman Gill, Harbhajan Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Pawan Negi, M Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Dube, Tim Southee, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakravarthy, Andre Russel, Ben Cutting, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert.

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (captain), Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, KM Asif, Deepak Chahar, Dwayne Bravo, Faf du Plessis, Imran Tahir, N Jagadeesan, Karn Sharma, Lungi Ngidi, Mitchell Santner, Ravindra Jadeja, Ruturaj Gaikwad, Shardul Thakur, R Sai Kishore, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, Harishankar Reddy, Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth.