(3) Dwayne Bravo’s Magic against MIÂ
CSK was returning to IPL after 2 years of ban in 2018. Their first match was against arch-rivals MI at Wankhede stadium. MI batted first and posted 165 runs on board. In reply, CSK faced a massive collapse and were struggling at 85/7. Bravo stood in the crease and played a lone warrior knock to take his team over the line. He single handedly smashed the Mi bowlers all around the ground and got out when the team required 6 runs of 6 balls
CSK were 159/9 in 19 overs. Bravo got out for 68 runs of 30 balls. Kedar Jadhav who got retired hurt in the middle came in for last wicket and finished the job for Chennai. This match set the tone for CSK in the season and they never looked back until lifting the trophy in the final. This match will also be remembered for the comeback of the greatest franchise to the league.
(2) Shane Watson’s heroics in 2018 & 2019 Final
Shane Watson was picked by CSK in the 2018 auction. He performed really well throughout the season and proved his worth. But in the finals while chasing 177 against SRH, he started slowly and struggled in the initial overs. He didn’t get off the mark in his first ten deliveries. But after getting settled, he immediately shifted gears and killed the SRH bowlers.
Watson made the game look very one-sided and easy for CSK. CSK chased the target in 18 overs and Watson scored 117 runs of 57 balls which is almost equal to 70% of the team’s total runs. He was awarded the Man of the match for his spectacular performance. He almost repeated the same heroics in next year’s final against MI while chasing 150. He scored 80 runs with a bleeding knee and was runout before the last ball. CSK lost the finals by just one run.
The streets of Chennai will always remember Watson for these two exceptional knocks in the finals.
(1) Chinna Thala’s Suresh Raina’s miracle went in vain
CSK was playing against KXIP ( Punjab Kings ) in the qualifier 2. This game had a lot of expectations among fans as Punjab had beaten CSK 2 times before in that season by Maxwell’s brilliance in both matches ( 95 off 43 and 90 off 38 ). In this match, Ashwin removed Maxwell for a duck but Sehwag came as a nightmare for CSK on that day. Sehwag smashed 122 runs along with Captain Bailey’s cameo of 40*, and Punjab posted a mammoth total of 226 runs.
Chasing such a big target in the knockouts seemed like an impossible task. Adding to that Faf du plessis got out for a golden duck in the first over. Then Mr.IPL Suresh Raina came in and played an absolute blinder in the powerplay. He played most of the balls in the powerplay and made a good use of the field restrictions by finding the gaps and timing the ball really well.
Raina Smashed Parvinder Awana for 33 runs in the last over of the powerplay. He holds the record of hitting seven boundaries in one over including the boundary off the no ball. CSK scored a record 100 runs for the loss of 2 wickets in the first 6 overs with Raina batting in 87 of just 24 balls.
From here, 226 looked like a cakewalk. But everything changed in the 7th over when Raina got runout, unfortunately. Raina got out of 87(25). After that CSK lost the momentum and fumbled. CSK lost the match by 24 runs. Till date, no one has bettered the strike rate of this innings after facing more than 20 balls.
Even though it came in a losing cause, this knock will remain on top of all time best knocks in IPL history.
Also Read:Â IPL 2025: 3 Best Knocks Of MI Batters In IPL History