DHAKA: After 75 games, the IPL season-5 final is set to be held between Kolkata Knight Riders and Chennai Super Kings on Sunday at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk in Chennai.
Kolkata Knight Riders, for the first time, will play for the IPL trophy at 8:30pm (Bangladesh local time) on the day.
Kolkata Knight Riders, the most consistent team so far in IPL 2012, has to face their toughest challenge yet against the two-time champions, who have peaked at just the right time.
On the other hand, Chennai Super Kings in their fourth in five seasons and their third in a row may pursue a hat trick of titles.
In a tournament characterised by fluctuating fortunes and unpredictable results, the presence of Chennai Super Kings in the final seems to be the only constant.
A week before the playoffs, Super Kings had to depend on multiple results going their way and were nearly out of the reckoning.
However, an extraordinary sequence of results followed by two impeccable performances ensured that Super Kings qualified for their third consecutive final, the second in Chennai.
Kolkata Knight Riders had a very different path to the final. Knight Riders finished second in the league, behind Daredevils, and comfortably won their qualifier against them in Pune to reach the final.
Played the fewest games among teams in the top-four, finished with the best win-loss ratio of 2.20 (11 wins and five losses).
Playing their first final, Knight Riders, one of only three teams to have beaten Super Kings in Chennai this season, will bank on their superb away record and all-round consistency.
Chennai Super Kings squad (possible):
MS Dhoni (c), S Anirudha, R Ashwin, S Badrinath, GJ Bailey, DE Bollinger, DJ Bravo, F du Plessis, BW Hilfenhaus, MEK Hussey, RA Jadeja, SB Jakati, Joginder Sharma, S Randiv, KMDN Kulasekara, VY Mahesh, JA Morkel, A Mukund, SK Raina, WP Saha†, SB Styris, S Tyagi, K Vasudevadas, G Vignesh, M Vijay.
Kolkata Knight Riders squad (possible):
G Gambhir (C), S Ladda, L Balaji, R Bhatia, MS Bisla, DB Das, M de Lange, BJ Haddin, Iqbal Abdulla, CS Jani, JH Kallis, B Lee, BB McCullum, EJG Morgan, SP Narine, YK Pathan, JL Pattinson, SV Samson, PJ Sangwan, I Saxena, Shami Ahmed, Shakib Al Hasan, LR Shukla, RN ten Doeschate, MK Tiwary, JD Unadkat.
BDST: 2137 HRS, MAY 26, 2012
Edited by: Abul Kalam Azad, Newsroom Editor / M. Mahbub Alam, Asst Output Editor
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