The Chennai Super Kings (CSK) became the first team to reach the Indian Premier League (IPL) 2021 final. They beat Delhi Capitals (DC) by four wickets in a thrilling encounter at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai, on Sunday night. CSK captain MS Dhoni turned back the clock as he hit the winning runs.

Before Dhoni pulled Tom Curran to help CSK enter the final of the IPL 2021, Robin Uthappa and Ruturaj Gaikwad played a blizzard of an innings, respectively, to put the DC bowlers on the mat.

Winning the toss, Dhoni invited Rishabh Pant and the team to bat.

Even though DC lost its opener Shikhar Dhawan (7) cheaply in the fourth over, Prithvi Shaw (60) kept scoring runs freely and hitting boundaries at ease.

Apart from Dhawan, Shreyas Iyer (1), Axar Patel (10) took back the long walk as CSK bowlers kept chipping away at the wickets in regular intervals.

Prithvi Shaw kept the fight going but in search of quick runs departed in the 11th over of the game.

Following this, Rishabh Pant (51) and Shimron Hetmyer (37) upped the ante and clobbered the CSK bowlers all over the ground.

Pant, who hit a calculated 50, hit three boundaries and two sixes.

For CSK, Josh Hazlewood returned with figures of 2/29 in his stipulated 4 overs. Ravindra Jadeja, Moeen Ali and DJ Bravo returned with one wicket apiece.

In reply, Anrich Nortje castles Faf du Plessis in the very first over. Robin Uthappa, who replaced Suresh Raina in the playing XI, surpassed all expectations.

He strung together a massive 110-run partnership with Gaikwad (70 off 50).

During his stay in the middle, Gaikwad hit five boundaries and 2 sixes, while Uthappa hit seven boundaries and 2 sixes.

However, CSK hit a little snag as they lost 3 wickets in a span of 10 runs.

But Moeen Ali (16 off 12) and MS Dhoni (18 off 6) ensured that the Chennai-based franchise reached the final.