Chennai Super Kings set up a date with Royals

KING OF KINGS: Mahendra Singh Dhoni's team defeated Kings XI Punjab thrice in the IPL.

Other stories in the section:

Pankaj Advani wins World Billiards Championship

The 23-year-old Bangalorean defeated Geet Sethi 6-1 to claim the title.

• All women's semi-finalists in line for No. 1 rank

• Why Tendulkar is injured today | Super captains

Featured Blog

Rajdeep Sardesai

Tale of Two Azmis

Featured Slideshows

Related Headlines

powered by

• IPL: Chennai Super Kings overtake Kings XI Punjab
• IPL standings: Preity's Kings XI top charts
• Bowling, a major concern for Chennai Super Kings

Keywords: Kings Xi Punjab, Chennai Super Kings

Mumbai: Chennai Super Kings brushed aside Kings XI Punjab by nine wickets in a lopsided contest in Mumbai on Saturday night to storm into Sunday's final against Rajasthan Royals.

After restricting Kings XI Punjab to a meagre 112-8, Chennai Super Kings side romped home riding on a second wicket stand of 102 runs between opener Parthiv Patel (51 off 48 balls) and Suresh Raina (55 off 34 balls) at the Wankhede Stadium.

The best chance for Kings XI, after putting up a pathetic batting display on winning the toss, was to strike a few early blows.

They managed to dismiss opener S Vidyut cheaply for six to reduce Chennai to 14-1, but then the left-handed combination of Patel and the more aggressive Raina took control of the proceedings.

They made runs at a comfortable pace and raced past the finish line in 14.5 overs to complete a thumping victory.

Sunday's summit clash for the top prize of $1.2 million between Chennai Super Kings and Rajasthan Royals, who had beaten Delhi Daredevils in an equally comprehensive fashion by 105 runs in the first semi-final on Friday night, would be held at the DY Patil Stadium in Navi Mumbai.

Vidyut mistimed a pull off Irfan Pathan and put up a dolly catch to short mid wicket to bring in Raina, included in the Indian ODI team for next month's Bangladesh tri-series and the subsequent Asia Cup.

Raina carried on his good showing in their last league tie with some attacking shots in the company of only a slightly more sedate Patel, who hit eight fours, and the duo carried on merrily towards the victory target.