Young guns – Ruturaj Gaikwad (CSK) and Venkatesh Iyer (KKR) – will be on show when the Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders clash in the IPL 2021 final on October 15 at the Dubai International Stadium. 

Both the sides beat the Delhi Capitals to reach the stage – one step closer to the trophy. While, MS Dhoni and company chase their fourth IPL title, KKR haul for the third. 

Also read: Delhi Capitals skipper Rishabh Pant vows to ‘come back better’ for next IPL

Against the Capitals, it was KKR’s Rahul Tripathi who smoked the penultimate delivery over long-off for a maximum to seal the finals berth. The match-winning shot came after the team lost two wickets on consecutive deliveries after needing six runs off five balls at a point. 

“It has been a great journey for us after the first phase. We believed in ourselves and the approach given by Eoin and the coach helped us with the positive approach,” Tripathi said after the game. 

The foundation of the 137-run chase was laid by Kolkata’s openers Shubman Gill (46) and Venkatesh Iyer (55). The two stitched a 96-run stand in 12 overs. The middle order, however, failed. Karthik, Morgan, Shakib and Sunil Narine failed to open their account. 

Delhi Capitals were restricted to 136 runs owing to economical spells by all the KKR bowlers. Varun Chakravarthy led the unit with two wickets. 

Also read: IPL 2021: Virat Kohli says ‘always given my best’ as RCB captaincy ends

The Kolkata Knight Riders have scripted a comeback of kinds. After a poor India-leg, the side has won seven of their nine games in the Middle East. 

Chennai Super Kings, who booked a flight to Dubai on October 10, defeated Rishabh Pant and company by four wickets. The win was a result of Ruturaj Gaikwad’s brilliant form combined with the finishing touch of ‘Thala’ aka MS Dhoni. Veteran Robin Uthappa also scored a half-century. 

CSK finished the league stages in the second position by winning nine out of 14 games. 

Teams (From): 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.

Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Rahul Tripathi, Eoin Morgan (c), Dinesh Karthik, Karun Nair, Nitish Rana, Sheldon Jackson, Tim Seifert, Andre Russell, Ben Cutting, Pawan Negi, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Harbhajan Singh, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Prasidh Krishna, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Vaibhav Arora, Varun Chakaravarthy, Rinku Singh, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Tim Southee