Venue: Dubai International Cricket Stadium, Dubai
Time: 7:30 PM IST
Average score at venue: 160
Win percentage while batting first: 36.54%
Pitch conditions:
- The team batting first will be under a lot of pressure in the final of the Indian T20 League in Dubai, since the last 8 consecutive. matches have been won by teams chasing. Kolkata have had a great record in this context, especially given that they have won their last 2 knockout matches while batting second.
- Chennai and Kolkata have a 50-50 record at this venue in the Indian T20 League 2021. Chennai played 4 matches from which they have 2 victories and as many defeats, whereas Kolkata have 1 victory and a defeat from 2 matches played here in this season.
- Fast bowlers have had a great success record at this venue with 67.6% of wickets coming to them, whereas spin bowlers getting the remaining 32.4%.
Weather prediction:
It will be a bright and sunny day on Friday in Dubai which will not be too hot either. The temperature will be at a high of 35°C around 1 o’clock in the afternoon, post which it will keep sliding down consistently to get to around 32°C during the match hours. The humidity levels will range between 50 to 60%.
HEAD-TO-HEAD RECORD:
Matches played: 25
Chennai won: 16
Kolkata won: 8
No result: 1
Last 5 matches:
Chennai won: 4
Kolkata won: 1
No result: –
Top 3 players from Chennai: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, M Dhonii
Top 3 players from Kolkata: Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Shubman Gill
Top picks for H2H/WTA contest (top 5 players each):
Top 3 players from Chennai: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, MS Dhonii, Ravindra Jadeja, Josh Hazlewood
Top 5 players from Kolkata: Sunil Narine, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Shubman Gill
Q&A:
Should I pick more bowlers, batsmen or all-rounders?
It is going to be the summit clash between two teams who have had success in the Indian T20 League in the past. While Chennai have won the title thrice in history in the years 2010, 2011 and 2018, Kolkata won the Indian T20 League twice in 2012 and 2014. In 2012, Kolkata had beaten Chennai in the final itself to win their maiden title. While both the teams have had a great record and history in the Indian T20 League, the contest on Friday will be a new game which will require both of these teams to be at the top of their performance and have all bases covered. Even though fast bowlers have had greater share of wickets at every single venue in this tournament, spin bowlers carry great significance and role, especially for Kolkata, who have been able to win their last 2 knockout matches on the basis of strong performances from their spinners. Adding more to the batting strength and carrying great spin options can be the right call made for this contest.
From which team should I pick more players in my XI? Which team is stronger?
For the match which will decide the winner of Indian T20 League 2021, there are certainly no clear favourites. Both these teams have proven to be the best teams among all the eight competitors who have battled it out in as many as 59 matches since the start of this year. While Chennai were absolutely rampant in the group stage and the first to qualify for the Indian T20 League 2021 knockouts as well as the final, Kolkata have been scraping hard to make it to the summit clash. Chennai have some great players in form such as Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Josh Hazlewood, Ravindra Jadeja and not to miss, M Dhonii, who rolled back the years in their previous clash against Delhi to finish the game for his side. On the other hand, Kolkata will be leaning on the likes of Sunil Narine and Varun Chakravarthy to give them control with the ball and hope that their batsmen do not suffer the collapse which they did against Delhi in Qualifier 2.
MORE INFORMATION: It is going to be a summit clash contest between two teams who have had a great history and record in the Indian T20 League. This is for the second time that Chennai and Kolkata will be meeting in the final of the Indian T20 League tournament, with the latter getting a better record. Kolkata defeated Chennai in the final of 2012 edition and they will look to replicate their performance, even though the squad has gone through a complete overhaul. On the other hand, Chennai will want to continue with their rampage and produce yet another special performance which will help them to lift their fourth title in the Indian T20 League.
Players’ form: Kolkata batsman Venkatesh Iyer has been one of the best discoveries not just for the franchisee in the tournament, but for Indian cricket itself since he has been asked by the national cricket board to stay back in the UAE after the conclusion of the Indian T20 League to link up with the national side for the upcoming T20 World Cup. Joining Iyer, will be another Madhya Pradesh cricketer Avesh Khan, who has been one of the best fast bowlers in the tournament. Shubman Gill seems to be returning to his peak form with the bat, but Kolkata will want more from their middle-order especially their captain Eoin Morgan, who is going through a horrendous period with the bat. On another day and in another match, an out-of-form captain might have dropped himself for a better option but Morgan cannot afford to make such a call either. Chennai will hope that their young gun in Gaikwad fires once again along with the likes of Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Dhonii, Jadeja and even Hazlewood.
Changes in squad (if any): NO
LIKELY XIs:
Team Chennai: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Moeen Ali, Ambati Rayudu, Robin Uthappa, M Dhonii (c&wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Shardul Thakur, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood
Team Kolkata: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Rahul Tripathi, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (wk), Eoin Morgan (c), Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Varun Chakravarthy, Shivam Mavi
FANTASY XI: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Venkatesh Iyer, Faf du Plessis, Rahul Tripathi, Moeen Ali, Ravindra Jadeja, M Dhonii (wk), Sunil Narine, Varun Chakravarthy, Josh Hazlewood, Shardul Thakur.
—
Dominant Chennai wary of Kolkata’s resurgence
The three-time title winners Chennai will look to maintain their domination against the two-time champions Kolkata when the two teams clash in the final of the Indian T20 League 2021 tournament, to be played at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium on Friday night.
In their history of 25 matches in the Indian T20 League, Chennai have won 16 while Kolkata have recorded victories in only 8. In their last 5 matches, Chennai have emerged victorious in 4 which also includes the twin victories that they recorded in the group stage this edition.
But Chennai will have to be wary of the fact that Kolkata are on a resurgence and can surprise, or rather, have surprised, some of the best teams in the tournament such as Delhi and Bangalore in the two Qualifier matches to make it to the final of Indian T20 League 2021.
Kolkata formed an extremely potent strategy on a slow and turning wicket which favoured spin bowlers in Sharjah, where they played the Eliminator as well as Qualifier 2 of this year’s T20 League 2021, to eliminate Delhi and Bangalore and make it to the final against Chennai.
However, Kolkata must know better that batsmen have not struggled against spin bowlers in Dubai as much as in Sharjah. On the back of some strong bowling performances from West Indies and Kolkata veteran Sunil Narine with young Indian mystery spinner in Varun Chakravarthy, Kolkata were able to make their way into the final this year, which will certainly witness different conditions but with a similar sort of record.
Both Chennai and Kolkata would want to bowl first given the fact that out of the 12 matches played here, 9 have been won by teams batting second. Out of the 3 victories that teams have recorded by teams who batted first, and all these wins were in the first 4 matches of the second leg of Indian T20 League in the UAE.
Kolkata have a great set of players who can bring out their best on any given day and surprise the opposition team, at the same time influence the results. In the Eliminator contest against Bangalore, Narine produced an all-round performance with the bat and the ball to help Kolkata record a victory and advance to Qualifier 2.
But Kolkata will also have to be wary of the fact that they remain fallible and had suffered an embarrassing batting collapse right at the edge of what would have been a huge victory against Delhi. Chasing 137, Kolkata were placed at 123/1 at one stage from which they slipped to 130/7, with the opposition team making a strong comeback.
A six off the penultimate ball of the contest by Rahul Tripathi — one of the best batsmen in the Kolkata camp — helped them cross the finish line against the Delhi but it was certainly a game that showed that Kolkata batsmen can crumble under pressure provided right amount of it is applied at the right time.
On the other hand, there is certainly some reliance over the opening pair in the pair of Ruturaj Gaikwad and Faf du Plessis in the Chennai camp but write off the others at your own peril. Dhonii came back storming in the contest against Delhi to take his team into the final a superb finish that saw him hit three boundaries to score 18 not out from only 6 balls.
Chennai do not have any severe concerns or areas that may be exploited by their opponents. Only a bad day of cricket on the field can put Chennai on the negative side of the result, which cannot be said for Kolkata who remain unpredictable so far.
This is going to be the second time when Chennai and Kolkata will clash in a contest for the title. In 2012, Kolkata had beaten Chennai in the final to lift their maiden Indian T20 League title and since then they have hundred percent record in final matches. On the other hand, Chennai are a team who are regularly used to feature in the final matches and also have the requisite experience to come good.
