Sunday 24 May 2015 15:40, UK
After another festival of huge hitting, spectacular fielding and aggressive bowling, the Indian Premier League season will climax today with a final between two of the most successful sides in the history of the event.
MS Dhoni will lead the Chennai Super Kings into battle against Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai Indians and the Eden Gardens showdown will be live on Sky Sports 5 from 3pm.
The Super Kings are probably the most successful Indian Premier League ever, having won the tournament in 2010 and 2011, and finished runner-up on three other occasions.
They have faced Mumbai in the final twice previously and defeated them in 2010 but Mumbai got their revenge in the 2013 final, winning by 23 runs after Kieron Pollard had smashed 60 not out off 32 balls.
And there is no doubt Mumbai come into the match as the team in the better form.
They lost their first four matches in the tournament and appeared to have no chance of reaching the play-offs but then won eight out of 10 to finish second in the final standings.
They then booked their place in the final with a 25-run win over today’s opponents on Monday, when they had the benefit of home advantage and Pollard again played a key role with 41 off 17.
Pollard, in-form opener Lendl Simmons and captain Sharma are three of the leading lights in the Mumbai batting line-up.
England's Alex Hales is also in the Mumbai squad, although their batting order is so strong that he is unlikely to feature.
And they also have a fantastic attack, featuring Harbhajan Singh, Mitchell McClenaghan, Vinay Kumar and Lasith Malinga.
However, beating Chennai for the second time in six days is likely to prove a tough task.
The Super Kings won six of their first seven Group games and have been in cruise control since then, topping the final standings with nine wins from 14.
Monday’s loss to Mumbai was a disappointment but they regrouped when it really mattered to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore on Friday, keeping the mighty RCB batting line-up in check and managing to chase down a tricky target under pressure.
They managed that victory without Brendon McCullum, who is in England with New Zealand, but CSK would obviously be even stronger if their top run scorer was present.
However, they still come to the party with a batting order which will be led off by experienced openers Mike Hussey (52 in the semi-final) and Dwayne Smith, and that duo will be followed by a pair of world class talents in the shape of Suresh Raina and Faf du Plessis.
The multi-talented Dwayne Bravo is the leading wicket-taker in the IPL this season (24) and is also capable of playing a key role with the bat and in the field.
And he is joined in the CSK attack by the likes of spinner Ravichandran Ashwin and veteran left-arm seamer Ashish Nehra, who has 22 wickets to his name.
And, of course, Chennai have Dhoni, the master finisher, who has guided Chennai and India home in tense run chases so many times during his glorious career.
Can he manage it again tonight? Tune in to Sky Sports 5 at 3pm to find out.
