IPL: Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis star as Chennai Super Kings set up decider against Mumbai Indians

Shane Watson paid tribute to South Africa star Faf du Plessis after the duo posted half centuries to lift the Chennai Super Kings into the Indian Premier League final against Mumbai Indians.

Shane Watson was in vintage form, smashing four sixes in his 32-ball knock.

A half-century from Shane Watson has helped the Chennai Super Kings beat Delhi Capitals by six wickets and set up an Indian Premier League final against Mumbai Indians.

Having restricted Delhi to a below-par 9-147, Chennai cruised home with an over to spare in Visakhapatnam, with the Aussie veteran and South Africa skipper Faf du Plessis making identical scores of 50.

Chennai’s clash with Mumbai on Monday morning (EST) will be a rematch of the first IPL playoff, which Rohit Sharma’s Mumbai side won. Chennai also lost both their league games to Mumbai this season.

Watson turned the aggressor after a sedate start, smashing four sixes and three fours in his 32-ball knock while Du Plessis scored at a brisk rate to lay the platform for an easy chase.

“The way Faf got going, I could take my time getting into rhythm. It took me a little while and Faf batted beautifully, to be able to take on the bowlers at that stage,” Watson said.

Shane Watson and Faf du Plessis were the heroes for the Super Kings.

“I could take a couple more balls to find my feet. That’s the beauty of cricket, it’s such a team game, you do rely on your teammates at certain moments in time.”

Both players were dismissed immediately after reaching their half-centuries, but the steady Ambati Rayudu ensured there was no late drama with an unbeaten 20 to help Chennai reach their second straight final.

Asked to bat first, Delhi’s batsmen struggled to convert their promising starts before Rishabh Pant, the hero of their victory over Sunrisers Hyderabad earlier in the week, took charge with a 25-ball 38 that included a six and two fours.

Delhi found themselves in trouble at 8-125 when the left-hander was dismissed, but they scored 22 runs off the last eight balls to give themselves a fighting chance in the contest.

Pace bowlers Deepak Chahar and Dwayne Bravo as well as the spin duo of Ravindra Jadeja and Harbhajan Singh kept the Delhi batsmen on a tight leash during the middle overs and were rewarded with two wickets each.