Chennai Ride On Raina To Beat Bangalore And Enter IPL Final

Mumbai, May 24 : Defending champions Chennai Super Kings tonight stormed into the final of the Indian Premier League after Suresh Raina defied cramps to smash an unbeaten 73 to beat Royal Challengers Bangalore in a cracker of a match in the last over, here today.

Chasing 176 for victory, Chennai recovered from a jittery start to snatch an incredible victory riding on Raina's stunning stroke-play and some lusty hitting by skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (29 off 19 balls) and all-rounder Albie Morkel (28 off 10).

The holders were precariously placed at seven for two and were way behind the asking rate at the midway stage but Bangalore lost the plot in the last five overs to concede the thriller.

The Royal Challengers, however, will still get a chance to make it to the summit showdown as they will take on the winner of the eliminator between Kolkata Knight Riders and Mumbai Indians.

Put into bat, Bangalore relied on Virat Kohli's rollicking 44-ball 70 to post a competitive 175 for four on a good track at the Wankhede Stadium.

But man of the match Raina had other ideas. Raina struck six sixes and four fours while fellow left-hander Morkel slammed three sixes and a four as the duo put on an unfinished stand of 46 runs in only 18 balls to guide the Super Kings. PTI