Two-time T20 League champions and now seven time finalists, Chennai defeated Hyderabad by two wickets at Wankhede, Mumbai in the first qualifier. Chennai scrapped through the win amid some tense moments and once again proved their big match temperament. Hyderabad almost had one foot in the final, but didn&rsquo;t play big moments well will now be taking on either Kolkata or Rajasthan.
Here are 5 talking points from Chennai&rsquo;s nail-biting win:
<img title="Shikhar Dhawan" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/2018/may/shikhar-hyderabad.jpg" alt="Shikhar Dhawan" /> Shikhar Dhawan. All Pics/AFP
1. Hyderabad&rsquo;s top order having a bad day: 2016 champions Hyderabad came into the match on the back of three successive losses and it showed in the batsmen&rsquo;s confidence in the big match. Hyderabad suffered a fatal blow when Shikhar Dhawan got out of the first ball of the match as it started a slide, after that Hyderabad couldn&rsquo;t quite recover.
Hyderabad&rsquo;s most dependable and in form batsman i.e. captain Kane Williamson had a rare failure (24 runs) and after captain&rsquo;s demise, Hyderabad couldn&rsquo;t quite recover as out of form players (read: Manish Pandey, Shakib Al Hasan) again failed to deliver. Orange Army&rsquo;s top order collapse proved quite inadequate in the big match.
<img title="Deepak Chahar" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/2018/may/deepak-chennai.jpg" alt="Deepak Chahar" /> Deepak Chahar
2. Chennai bowlers coming to the party: Before the start of T20 2018 league, Chennai team was labeled as an ageing side and a team, which was over reliant on spinners (Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir, Karn Sharma, and Ravindra Jadeja). But, Chennai have proved their doubters wrong, again! In Shardul Thakur, Lungi Ngidi and Deepak Chahar, Chennai bowlers strangled Hyderabad batsmen and never allowed them to get away. Chennai seamers had the combined figures of 4/126 in 16 overs, which proved to be the difference in the match.
<img title="Carlos Brathwaite" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/2018/may/carlos-hyderabad.jpg" alt="Carlos Brathwaite" /> Carlos Brathwaite
3. Remember, Carlos Brathwaite: In 2016 World T20 summit clash, West Indies needed 19 in the final over and unknown Windies player Carlos Brathwaite hit four consecutive sixes off Ben Stokes to clinch the title for West Indies. After this heroic act, Carlos Brathwaite&rsquo;s career has not taken off due to various reasons. In this T20 2018, Carlos Brathwaite warmed the benches for the first 13 matches before getting the chance to play in the last league match.
Carlos Brathwaite came into this match at a difficult stage (69/5) and Hyderabad&rsquo;s innings was going nowhere. Carlos Brathwaite used all his experience (107 T20 matches), batted with calmness to strike 43 off 29 balls to take Hyderabad to a respectable score. Carlos Brathwaite used all his time on the sidelines to good effect, which once again proves that you cannot discount experience in big pressure matches.
<img title="Faf du Plessis" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/2018/may/faf-chennai.jpg" alt="Faf du Plessis" /> Faf du Plessis
4. Faf du Plessis&rsquo; superlative knock: As was the case with Hyderabad, Chennai got off to a terrible start. Chennai lost their first six wickets for 62 runs and it looked like that the mighty Chennai would crumble under pressure.
South African captain <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/search/faf-du-plessis-all" target="_blank">Faf du Plessis</a> is not the most stylish players going around in international cricket and he plays in the same team as the much celebrated and iconic AB de Villiers. Faf du Plessis in T20 2018 did not play all the matches due to Shane Watson, Sam Billings listed under the overseas spots. But, come the big match, Faf du Plessis used all his class to score a magnificent 67 off 42 balls, hitting four maximums. Faf du Plessis was batting on a different wicket altogether amid wickets falling at the other end. The&nbsp;South African captain also batted well with the tail to take Chennai to record seventh T20 league final.
<img title="Hyderabad" src="https://images.mid-day.com/images/2018/may/hyderabad-t20.jpg" alt="Hyderabad" /> Hyderabad T20 team
5. Did Hyderabad snatch defeat from the jaws of victory?: Hyderabad in this match were well below par and they will be the first one to admit that. The batting performance by the Hyderabad franchise was not the most professional one apart from Carlos Brathwaite. Hyderabad despite playing sub-standard cricket reached a competitive score. Now, it was up to the much-fancied bowling attack to get the job done in a pressure match.
Hyderabad bowlers started well with dismantling the in-form Chennai batting. Bhuvneshwar Kumar, Sandeep Sharma, Siddarth Kaul all bowled with venom and precision. Afghanistan&rsquo;s Rashid Khan once again controlled the middle overs and picked up 2/11 in four overs.
Just when Hyderabad would have thought that the match is in their control, they took the foot off the pedal and paid a heavy price. Faf du Plessis deserves all the credit for his brilliant knock, but the Hyderabad team made some strategic mistakes (why did Carlos Brathwaite bowl the 18th over?) and captain Kane Williamson, who is so cool and calm, lost his nerve. Hyderabad, in a way, lost a match which was theirs to win, but they have another chance to reach the finals and take revenge against Chennai.
Also Read - <a href="https://www.mid-day.com/articles/t20-2018-ms-dhoni-praises-chennai-team-spirit-for-success/19451153" target="_blank">T20 2018: MS Dhoni Praises Chennai Team Spirit For Success</a>
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T20 2018: 5 talking points from Chennai's 'Super' win over Hyderabad

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