XtraTime Web Desk: After leading India to World Cup glory at the Wankhede stadium, MS Dhoni led Chennai Super Kings to its second consecutive Indian Premier League (IPL) trophy in a span of 56 days. The yellow army defeated Royal Challengers Bangalore (RCB) by 58 runs at Chepauk on this day in 2011.


Two of the most consistent teams of the season made it to the final of the 2011 edition. Royal Challengers Bangalore registered 19 points from 14 matches while Chennai ended up with 18 points in the group stages. For both franchises it was their second IPL final. Reigning champions Super Kings was buoyed by the fact that they were playing in front of the home crowd.


MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first in the final. Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay gave the Super Kings a blazing start as they raced to 50 runs in just 31 balls. Vijay was the more aggressive of the two Chennai openers as he brought his fifty in only 29 balls, hitting two boundaries and 3 sixes. The home team reached 100 in 10.3 overs, setting the launch pad for an onslaught towards the end of the innings. Meanwhile, Mr Cricket also brought up his fifty off 40 balls that included three hits to the fence and two sixes. The duo took the total to 150 runs off 14.2 overs.


RCB got the first breakthrough, getting rid of Hussey in the 14th over. The left hander scored 63 runs from 45 balls (3x4, 3x6) with the score on 159/1. Dhoni promoted himself at No 3 and made a quickfire 22 runs from 13 balls. Srinath Aravind gave a double strike for RCB, getting rid of Murali Vijay (95 from 52 balls with 4 fours and 6 sixes) and Dhoni of consecutive deliveries. The scoreboard read 188/3 in 18.2 overs. Eventually CSK ended up scoring a massive 205/5 in 20 overs.


In reply Royal Challengers Bangalore was dealt a huge blow in the first over bowled by Ravichandran Ashwin. Hard hitting Jamaican Chris Gayle was shown the way to pavilion by the off spinner after having him edged to Dhoni for a duck in his fourth delivery. The local boy also got rid of the other RCB opener as he cleaned up Mayan Agarwal for 10 runs. Left arm spinner Shadab Jakati gave Chennai a huge breakthrough as he had AB de Villiers plumbed for only 18 runs with the score on 3-48. Royal Challengers was in the hunt for the run chase until Virat Kohli was at the crease. The RCB captain was looking good for his 35 off 32 balls until he was undone by a sharp off break from Suresh Raina that straightened a bit to find Kohli plumbed. With the score on 5/69 in 10 overs, Chennai almost had a hand on the coveted trophy. In spite of Sourabh Tiwary’s (42 off 34) efforts towards the end, Bangalore could only manage 147/8. Ashwin was the pick of Chennai bowlers with three wickets (4-0-16-3). Super Kings made history by becoming the first team in the history of the cash rich league to win back to back titles.


Everything that MS Dhoni touched turned gold in that period.

On This Day: MS Dhoni leads Chennai Super Kings to its second consecutive IPL title