Chennai Super Kings entered their seventh final in nine attempts directly, while dumping their Hyderabad rivals to their third successive defeat in head-to-head contests this season.
Nerves will play a big role as two title-hungry outfits, Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad look to outdo each other and regain the coveted Indian Premier League crown when they square off in what promises to be a humdinger of a summit contest in Mumbai on Sunday. The winners-take-all T20 final, in front of a capacity crowd at the Wankhede Stadium, will see Chennai Super Kings, who are gunning for their third IPL crown, take on 2016 winners Sunrisers Hyderabad five days after their first play-off game at the same neutral venue. These two southern rivals met at the bull-ring on May 22 in Qualifier 1 in which the Super Kings, champions in 2010 and 2011, just about managed to ward off their rivals in a low-scoring thriller after looking down in the dumps at one stage during the run-chase. That victory, by 2 wickets, enabled the Super Kings to enter their seventh final in nine attempts directly, while dumping their Hyderabad rivals to their third successive defeat in head-to-head contests this season. Sunrisers had to travel to Kolkata to book their final berth after knocking out two-time former champions Kolkata Knight Riders by 14 runs in Qualifier 2 last night.
While the Super Kings are blessed with a four-day break in between their two games, Sunrisers will be hoping that their winning momentum will help overcome the tiredness of travelling to and from Kolkata and playing their third game, which also happens to be the championship-deciding one, in seven days.
Afghanistan leg-spinner Rashid Khan, who came up with a sensational 3 for 19 stint on Friday night apart from scoring a rapid-fire 34 in 10 balls and then taking two catches and effecting a run-out, had troubled the Super Kings with a 2 for 11 burst in the first qualifier.
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