IPL Qualifier 1: Faf du Plessis 67/42 takes CSK into finals

Mumbai:Faf du Plessis brillant unbeaten half century 67 off 42 helped CSK reach the finals of the Qualifier 1 match, beating SRH by 2 wickets in the 11th edition of IPL here  at the Wankhede Stadium on Tuesday.CSK who needed 6 runs in the final over, it was Plessis who hit a six in Kumra's spell in the first ball of the last over taking CSK towards victory.

Chasing a low total of 139/7 set by the SRH an a target of 140 runs to make to the finals.

CSK too fumbled with its opening batsman and all-rounder Shane Watson was sent to the pavillion without scoring a run after facing 5 balls caught by Goswami in Bhuvneshwar Kumar's bowl.

CSK started to show signs of struggle with their batting line-up against SRH's bowling  after Suresh Raina and Ambati Rayudu's wicket fell in the same over of the 4th over.Raina's 22 off 13 was a good effort, but was bowled by kaul. He hit 4 fours while Rayudu too went down to Kaul without scoring a run after facing one ball.Skipper MS Dhoni too was not at his best form and chipped in 9 off 18 hitting one four before being dismissed by Rashid Khan in 8th over.  

Same as SRH CSK's wicket also kept falling at regular intervals.After Raina none of the batsman contributed from their side.With Dhoni's departure it was now turn of Bravo who was  caught by Dhawan bowled by Rashid Khan in the 12th over. Bravo's 7 off 11.Then Jadeja in 13th over, Chahar 15th and Harbhajan Singh in 18th over all of them failed to stick to the wicket and lost their wickets.

Thakur too remained unbeaten and chipped in 15 off 5 hitting 3 fours.However, it was Faf du Plessis magnificent half century that took CSK towards victory in the end hitting a winning six in the first bowl of the last over in Kumar's spell taking then to the finals on May 27 here at the wankhede stadium.For SRH it was Rashid Khan's 2/11 with best of 2.75 of economy rate, while Kaul and Sandeep Sharma bagged two wickets each while Bhuvneshwar Kumar took one wicket.(UNI)