Mahendra Singh Dhoni added yet another trophy to the cabinet when they eased past Kolkata Knight Riders in the final of the CL T20 2014. Suresh Raina played a scintillating innings of 109* runs to lead the CSK chase after they had won the toss and put Kolkata into bat.
Batting first the Knights notched up a total of 180/6 in their quota of 20 overs. Gautam Gambhir led from the front scoring a crucial 80. Gambhir was well supported by his opening partner Robin Uthappa (39) in their 91-run opening partnership. After Uthappa departed KKR lost their way a bit due to some great piece of bowling from Pawan Negi. 3 wickets put KKR under check. But Manish Pandey (32) kept the scoreboard moving. In the end Yusuf Pathan (20*) helped Kolkata Knight Riders reach the 180-run mark with some lusty blows. Pawan Negi was undoubtedly the best among the CSK bowlers as he finished with the figures of 4-0-22-5. Jadeja also picked up a wicket giving away only 24 runs.
It was not the perfect start for the 2010-champions for they lost their first wicket in the form of Dwayne Smith with only 9 runs on the board. Pat Cummins got the breakthrough. However after the fall the first wicket it was 
CSK all the way till the end. Suresh Raina simply toyed with KKR bowling scoring his third T20 hundred. Brendon McCullum and Dhoni played perfect foil to Raina’s breath-taking innings to end on the winning side. Knight Riders just did not have any answers to Raina’s counter punch and they really missed their mystery spinner Sunil Narine who has been banned for being suspected to be having an illegal action.
It was CSK’s first major win in three years for their last triumph came in 2011 when they lifted the Indian Premier League for the second time. It was truly a night to remember for the CSK players, especially for players like Suresh Raina and Pawan Negi, who were instrumental in this great victory after a long time.
Tags: Champions League Chennai Super Kings CL T20 2014 CSK Dhoni Gautam Gambhir KKR Suresh Raina
