Delhi Capitals vs Chennai Super Kings, Qualifier 1 - Live Cricket Score, Commentary

So what next for Pant and Ponting? They are clearly missing Stoinis in the middle, with the bat mainly and also as a sixth bowling option. They travel to Sharjah and await tomorrow's winner between RCB and KKR. CSK will happily chill with the extended break and come back to the same venue to play their ninth IPL final. They do have a settled combination to be very relaxed. DC needs Shreyas to contribute with the bat. That team-meeting would have been interesting in the DC dressing room. That's it from this contest. Onto the important Kohli v Morgan battle tomorrow. See you all after a night's rest. Take care!!!

Ruturaj Gaikwad | Player of the Match: (Thinking before a big game) It's just normal. Just go through normal routines whatever you have been following throughout the tournament and just try and stay neutral. Each and every game you start from 0, so it's important to start again and start fresh and be up for a challenge whatever it is. Powerplay was a crucial stage and the wicket was holding a little bit. We had to get off to a good start. Robin batted really well, he took on the bowlers and it got a little bit easier for me to stay till the end and bat throughout the innings. At times, you have to take the odd risk. I plan for 2-3 overs, think of who is likely to bowl and who I can target, big-short boundary, who I can target better. You have to be crystal clear, go through the process, take one over at a time and ensure that the required rate doesn't go up too much and take it deep. Every time, Dhoni tries to encourage me and start afresh every game. Learn from every game and move forward. He said to try and finish the game. It is what separates good players from normal players. I am just looking to learn as much as possible till he is here and stay humble.

Dhoni on CSK's return this season: It's the full team (effort). It was tough when we didn't qualify last time. Emotions were quite high. Forget what has happened till now, we wanted to make the most of the 3-4 games left towards the end. A lot of our batters made the most of that period which is why I feel we have come back strongly this year. Credit goes to the support staff and everyone in the team. Without their character you can't really comeback like this.

Dhoni on Ruturaj: Whenever we have a chat, it's always plain and simple. It's about what is going on and what he is thinking because it very important to understand how well he has improved over the years. And also his game plan, He is somebody who is willing to bat 20 overs. I had a conversation with him (Ruturaj) after one of the games. If you are opener and having a good start, there is nothing that says you have to bat only 10 or 12 overs, why can't you bat 18, 19 or 20 overs. Right after that he batted 20 overs, which means he is very eager to learn and he is somebody who plays authentic shots. He has done very well for himself, he is a good talent.

MS Dhoni: It was a crucial innings. They were using the bigger boundary very well. Nothing special, just watch the ball and hit the ball. I haven't done a lot in the tournament. So you want to get that out of the system. If you are batting well in the nets, just look for the ball, what are the variations, where the bowler could bowl. Other than that there was nothing much in the mind. If there are too many things floating around, it becomes difficult to watch the ball. We are one side that hasn't done that a lot (about sending others over Jadeja). Even with Deepak we bat till 9. With the way Shardul has been batting recently or even Deepak, both can contribute. When a batsman goes in, he will think twice before hitting the first ball for a boundary, but if a Shardul or a Deepak goes in, they can look to get a boundary from the first ball. And even they get one or two hits away, it could be a big impact because the run difference is only 15-20 runs. He (Uthappa) is somebody who likes to bat up the order. Mo has done very well for us at 3. So we have left it open. Whoever gets out, one of you will bat at 3. We have just left it to god how we decide that (smiles). We have to (leave it to god) because we can't decide. Depends on which opener gets out against which opposition we are playing.

Rishabh Pant | Delhi Capitals captain: Obviously it's very?disappointing, don't have enough words to describe how we are feeling right now. The only thing we can do is rectify our mistakes and move on to the next one. I thought that Tom bowled beautifully throughout?the match, last over unfortunately went for runs. I thought the bowler who is having a great day, it's better to use him for the last over. I thought the score was decent but they got off to a flier in the powerplay and we didn't get enough?wickets and that was the main difference. As a cricketer, we are going to rectify our mistakes, gonna learn from?it and move on to the next one. Hopefully we can win and play the final.?

Robin Uthappa | CSK: Happy that I was able to contribute. Today is my son's birthday and this one's for him. When I went out to bat we knew we needed a good start, so I just tried to react to the ball and play according to the merit. Hopefully it's nothing serious (about his injury), seems like it's a little bit of a niggle and we have got 4 days to go so I should be good. There were days when there were doubts to be honest, when you don't get to play these doubts tend to creep in and I try to make sure that I shut myself from the outside world, I just stuck to that and I just felt that at some point I will be able to contribute to the team in a way that's really meaningful and I'm really grateful for God that I have been able to do that today. I always maintain that this has been one of the most secure franchises going around and everyone feel secure within the group and I think that only makes a player only give that much more to the franchise. After KKR, when Gauti was the captain I really enjoyed myself there and felt really secure in that group but after that this is the most secure I've felt while playing cricket in a while. It's gonna be interesting and exciting and really looking forward to it. I just like to take the opportunity to say everyone in the world out there - let's be kind, the world needs it.

Faf lost his poles, but in walked Robbie Uthappa. Made a statement first ball with a lovely boundary and his promotion over Moeen was smart from CSK. Maybe they thought DC could bowl short to Mo early on if he was sent out. Whatever, Uthappa worked like a magic. Imagine this. Uthappa made 19 and 2 in his last 2 games coming in for the injured Raina. Many teams would have been tempted to look elsewhere with the lack of runs and resources up the sleeve, but even if the player himself had doubts about him, Dhoni probably would have thought on the lines of "I know you can do this. You have the experience." Experience is the key and experience it was on great show from Uthappa with his calculated hits taking us back to 2007.

Rishabh Pant with a glum face after that winning hit. His side has now gone through back-to-back last over losses. But they needed at least 15 runs more against this CSK batting line-up that never ends, especially with KG not in the best of forms with the ball. Pant and Hetymer stitching a 83-run stand bailed them out, but losing 3 wickets in fairly quick succession halted the tempo after Shaw gave them a top start.. Nortje did get them off to a brilliant start by breaking what's been CSK's biggest success stories this season - a solid opening stand.

21:46 Local Time, 17:46 GMT, 23:16 IST: What a run chase. Jadeja hugs his captain while the yellow army is all smiles and happy. Should this have gone this far after that Ruturaj-Uthappa partnership? Definitely no. But credit to DC for not putting their heads down. Shreyas Iyer took two catches and effected a runout within 2 overs after the second timeout. CSK did a strange thing today - sending Thakur up the order - but come out victors. You can't fault Pant with the bowling changes after that timeout. Curran was his best bowler of the day, using the big boundary with the slower balls very well, so it had to be him over KG Rabada, who's not looked himself this season. Dhoni came out, took strike, missed a ball to increase the pressure on his fans like always does, but smashed a flat six off Avesh Khan in the penultimate over to silence everyone! He decided he didn't need Jadeja and all remaining five balls of the final over and took his side home.

CSK-DC in IPL Qualifiers
Q2: Chennai, 2012 - CSK won by 86 runs
Q2: Vizag, 2019 - CSK won by six wkts
Q1: Dubai, 2021 - CSK won by four wkts

Most time unbeaten in successful run chases in IPL
25 MS Dhoni
25 Ravindra Jadeja
22 Yusuf Pathan

Tom Curran to Dhoni, FOUR, short slower delivery outside off stump, Dhoni pulls behind square. Oh no one there and CSK are in their 9th IPL final. If you still have doubts of Dhoni the finisher, you might want to rethink! People were surprised to see him come above Jadeja especially with the captain not middling that well in recent times. But he hit that crucial six last over and an important four off that hat-trick ball to keep CSK in the hunt and then took the side over the line. CSK win with Jadeja not facing a ball. Wow!

Tom Curran to Dhoni, wide, this is way too wide of off stump. The yellow camp is happy and clapping. Now 4 off 3. Ponting very tensed now

5 off 3. CSK ahead?

Tom Curran to Dhoni, FOUR, inside edge runs away to the fine leg fence to dent DC fans. Nothing wrong with this wide length delivery, Dhoni reached out to swing hard, got a thick edge that luckily missed the stumps and runs away to the boundary

Now 9 off 4

Tom Curran to Dhoni, FOUR, slapped off the back foot! Muscular hit. Literally with both feet in the air. The leg-side boundary is short, so Tom Curran is obviously going to bowl wide of off stump. Dhoni expects the slower ball and slaps it hard wide of cover

Ravindra Jadeja, left handed bat, comes to the crease

Tom Curran to Moeen Ali, out Caught by Rabada!! In the airrrrrr, big boundary, KG Rabada takes it at deep square leg. Double fist pump from Tom Curran. What a simple, yet smart plan from Tom Curran. Give no pace on the ball and bowl into wicket. Hit me if you are good enough kind of attitude. Mo did middle that but he went a bit too square on the pull shot. Maybe wanted to get it finer too, but holed out! Curran on a hat-trick now. Dhoni on strike with 13 needed. Moeen Ali c Rabada b Tom Curran 16(12) [4s-2]

Tom Curran to Moeen Ali, THATS OUT!! Caught!!