Raina steers Chennai into IPL final

India batsman Suresh Raina hit a stroke-filled 73 not out to help Chennai Super Kings score a thrilling six-wicket victory over Bangalore Royal Challengers on Tuesday and reach the final of the IPL.

The left-hander unleashed six sixes and four fours during his 50-ball knock as Chennai scored 177-4 off 19.4 overs in reply to Bangalore's 175-4.

For Bangalore, Virat Kohli had struck a 44-ball 70 not out with three sixes and five fours.

Bangalore still has a chance to make the final as it gets to play the 'qualifier 2' game in Chennai on Friday to decide the second finalist. Its opponent will be the winner of Wednesday's 'eliminator' game between Mumbai Indians and Kolkata Knight Riders.

Raina was involved in useful partnerships of 63 with Subramaniam Badrinath (34) for the third wicket and of 61 with captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni (29) for the next, but it was an unbroken stand of 46 with South African allrounder Albie Morkel (28 not out) that sealed Chennai's third IPL final appearance.

Chennai was behind in the chase at 25-2 after six overs of field restrictions and 62-2 after 10, before Raina took control.

Raina and Dhoni bludgeoned 23 runs off the 13th over of the innings bowled by seam bowler Abhimanyu Mithun, after which even experienced bowlers like Zaheer Khan and Daniel Vettori failed to control the flow of runs.

Morkel struck three late sixes and a four during his 10-ball innings to ensure the chase did not run out of steam.

"It was a difficult target and I kept believing we could do it though I was not 100 per cent confident," Dhoni said. "We know we have the firepower to win such matches."

Earlier, Bangalore posted a challenging total despite losing prolific opener Chris Gayle for only eight runs.

The West Indian left-hander, who leads the list of run-scorers in this tournament with 519 from only 10 games after missing the first four games, was trapped lbw by off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin.

But Kohli, Bangalore's second most prolific batsman, made a calculated assault. He played some fine shots on either side of the pitch, once taking 19 off an over from Albie Morkel including a six over long-on and another over the cover fence.

Kohli accelerated toward the end to help his side score 42 off the last 20 balls of the innings, also reaching second place in the list of scorers with 514 from 14.

Bangalore had looked set for a bigger score but Australia pace bowler Doug Bollinger bowled a tight length that saw him concede just 20 runs in his four overs while also dismissing compatriot Luke Pomersbach, who had looked dangerous during his 18-ball 29.

Scores:

Chennai Super Kings 177-4 in 19.4 overs (Suresh Raina 73 not out, Subramaniam Badrinath 34, Mahendra Singh Dhoni 29, Albie Morkel 28 not out, Zaheer Khan 2-31), def. Bangalore Royal Challengers 175-4 in 20 overs (Virat Kohli 70 not out, Mayank Agarwal 34, Doug Bollinger 1-20). 
 
 

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