Chennai Super Kings Chennai Super Kings (CSK) is an Indian Premier League (IPL) franchise cricket team based in Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India. Founded in 2008, the team plays its home matches at the M. A. Chidambaram Stadium in Chennai. The team is owned by India ...

(CSK) is a franchise cricket team based in

Chennai Chennai (, ), formerly known as Madras ( the official name until 1996), is the capital city of Tamil Nadu, the southernmost Indian state. The largest city of the state in area and population, Chennai is located on the Coromandel Coast of th ...

, India, which plays in the

Indian Premier League The Indian Premier League (IPL), also known as TATA IPL for sponsorship reasons, is a men's T20 franchise cricket league of India. It is annually contested by ten teams based out of seven Indian cities and three Indian states. The leagu ...

(IPL). They were one of the nine teams that competed in the

2012 Indian Premier League The 2012 Indian Premier League season, abbreviated as IPL 5 or the IPL 2012 or the DLF IPL 2012 (owing to title sponsorship reasons), was the fifth season of the Indian Premier League, initiated by the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCC ...

. They were defeated by the

Kolkata Knight Riders Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) are a franchise cricket team representing the city of Kolkata in the Indian Premier League. The franchise is owned by Bollywood actor Shah Rukh Khan, actress Juhi Chawla and her spouse Jay Mehta. The Knight Riders p ...

in the final at Chennai. Thus, they qualified for the

2012 Champions League Twenty20 The 2012 Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) was the fourth edition of the Champions League Twenty20, an international Twenty20 cricket tournament. It was held in South Africa from 9 to 28 October 2012. This edition was significant for being the fi ...

where they could not progress past the group stage. They were captained for the fifth season in succession by Indian skipper

Mahendra Singh Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian former international cricketer who was captain of the Indian national cricket team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He is also the curren ...

. The Super Kings had emerged IPL champions in both 2010 and 2011 under his captaincy.

Pre-season player signings

At the 2012 players auction, the team bought

Ravindra Jadeja Ravindrasinh Anirudhsinh Jadeja (born 6 December 1988), commonly known as Ravindra Jadeja, is an Indian international cricketer. He is an all-rounder, who bats left-handed and bowls left-arm orthodox spin. He was the captain of the Chennai Sup ...

for $2 million ( 97.2 million), the bid which turned out to be the biggest draw in the players' auction for the fifth edition of the Indian Premier League. They also bought out the contract of

Tim Southee Timothy Grant Southee (born 11 December 1988), is a New Zealand international cricketer who plays for New Zealand cricket team in all formats of the game, captains in Tests and vice captains in T20Is. He is a right-arm fast-medium bowler and ...

who was signed as a replacement player in the previous season.

Squad

Players with international caps before the start of the 2012 IPL season are listed in bold.

Indian Premier League

The Super Kings started their IPL 2012 campaign with an 8-wicket loss to

Mumbai Indians Mumbai Indians are a franchise cricket team based in Mumbai, Maharashtra, that competes in the Indian Premier League and is the most successful team of the tournament with 5 titles. Founded in 2008, the team is owned by India's biggest conglo ...

in the tournament opener in Chennai. CSK were bundled out for 112 before

Richard Levi Richard Ernst Levi (born 14 January 1988) is an English-South African cricketer. He played in the 2006 U-19 Cricket World Cup in Sri Lanka. He currently plays for Western Province, Cape Cobras and Northamptonshire. He attended Wynberg Boys' High ...

struck a fifty to set up the victory for the visiting team.

came up with a match-winning all-round performance (48 off 29, 5/16) to help his team to a resounding 74-run win over

Deccan Chargers The large Deccan Plateau in southern India is located between the Western Ghats and the Eastern Ghats, and is loosely defined as the peninsular region between these ranges that is south of the Narmada river. To the north, it is bounded by the ...

in their second home game. In their first away game of the season, the Super Kings lost to

Delhi Daredevils Delhi Capitals (formerly Delhi Daredevils) are a franchise cricket team based out of Delhi in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The franchise is jointly owned by the GMR Group and the JSW Group. The team's home ground is Arun Jaitley Stadium, ...

by 8 wickets after a poor show by the batsmen. Their win against

Royal Challengers Bangalore Royal Challengers Bangalore (often abbreviated as RCB) are a franchise cricket team based in Bangalore, Karnataka, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). It was founded in 2008 by United Spirits and named after the company's liquor b ...

was made possible by

Albie Morkel Johannes Albertus Morkel (born 10 June 1981), better known as Albie Morkel, is a former South African cricketer. He is an all-rounder who bowls right-arm medium fast and bats left-handed. He was earmarked as the new Lance Klusener from an ear ...

, who scored 28 runs from the 19th over bowled by

Virat Kohli Virat Kohli (; born 5 November 1988) is an Indian international cricketer and former captain of the India national cricket team. Widely regarded as one of the greatest batsmen of all time, Kohli plays as a right-handed Batting (cricket), batte ...

, and Jadeja who hit a boundary off the last ball of the match to see his side chase down the target of 206. South African

Francois du Plessis Francois "Faf" du Plessis ( ; born 13 July 1984) is a South African professional cricketer and former captain of the South Africa national cricket team. He is considered one of the greatest fielders of all time and is among the best all-forma ...

was adjudged Man of the match for his innings of 71. At

Pune Pune (; ; also known as Poona, (List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name from 1818 until 1978) is one of the most important industrial and educational hubs of India, with an estimated population of 7.4 million ...

, after restricting the Super Kings to 155,

Jesse Ryder Jesse Daniel Ryder (born 6 August 1984) is a former international New Zealand cricketer, who played all forms of the game. He is a middle-order batsman for Tests and is an opening batsman in ODIs. Ryder also bowls useful medium-pace. Ryder has ...

and

Steve Smith Stephen, Steve, Stevie, or Steven Smith may refer to: Academics *Steve Smith (political scientist) (born 1952), British international relations theorist and senior university manager *Stephen Smith (journalist) (born 1956), American journalist, a ...

took the

Pune Warriors Pune Warriors India were a franchise Twenty20 cricket team that represented the city of Pune in the Indian Premier League (IPL). The team was one of two IPL franchises from the Indian state of Maharashtra, the other being Mumbai Indians. It was ...

home with four balls to spare to hand a third defeat to CSK in five games. However they beat the same opponents at home by 13 runs after du Plessis and

Subramaniam Badrinath Subramaniam Badrinath ( ta, சுப்பிரமணியம் பத்ரிநாத்; born 30 August 1980) is a former Indian cricketer. He is a right-handed middle order batsman. Badrinath has represented India in One Day Internati ...

scored fifties in the first innings. du Plessis struck another half-century (73 off 52) to take Chennai to their second consecutive win. Their next game, which was supposed to be played at

Bangalore Bangalore (), officially Bengaluru (), is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Karnataka. It has a population of more than and a metropolitan population of around , making it the third most populous city and fifth most ...

against the Royal Challengers, was washed out without a ball bowled due to rain. They suffered a home defeat against

Kings XI Punjab Punjab Kings (PBKS) are a franchise cricket team based in Mohali, Punjab, that plays in the Indian Premier League (IPL). Established in 2008 as the Kings XI Punjab (KXIP), the franchise is jointly owned by Mohit Burman, Ness Wadia, Preity Zi ...

after they failed to chase the target of 157. KXIP's

Mandeep Singh Mandeep Singh (born 18 December 1991) is an Indian cricketer. He plays for Punjab in the top-flight of Indian cricket. A right-hand batsman who also occasionally bowls right arm medium pace, Mandeep has also played for India Blue, and North ...

was awarded the Man of the match for his innings of 56. They lost another home game by 5 wickets to

whose run chase was anchored by skipper

Gautam Gambhir Gautam Gambhir (; born 14 October 1981) is an Indian politician and former cricketer, who has played all formats of the game. He is a current member of the Lok Sabha since 2019. He received the Padma Shri from the Government of India in 2019, th ...

's half-century. Chennai got back to winning ways with a 10-run win over the struggling

despite a fighting knock by the Chargers' vice-captain

Cameron White Cameron Leon White (born 18 August 1983) is an Australian former international cricketer who captained the national side in Twenty20 Internationals. A powerful middle order batsman and right-arm leg-spin bowler, White made his first-class cric ...

. The Super Kings then lost to Mumbai Indians off the last ball of the match.

Dwayne Smith Dwayne Romel Smith (born 12 April 1983) is a former Barbadian international cricketer who has represented the West Indies in all three formats of the game. An all-rounder, he is known as an aggressive and powerful right-handed batsman, bowls m ...

, who was playing his first match of the season for Mumbai, hit 14 runs off the last three balls bowled by

Ben Hilfenhaus Benjamin William Hilfenhaus (born 15 March 1983) is an Australian former professional cricketer who played for Tasmania in Australian domestic cricket and for the Australia national cricket team. He is right-arm fast-medium bowler known for his ...

to take his team to a dramatic victory. The loss severely dented CSK's chances of progressing to the Playoffs. In another thrilling match, Chennai beat Rajasthan Royals by four wickets mainly due to cameos by Albie Morkel and

Anirudha Srikkanth Anirudha Srikkanth (born 14 April 1987) is an Indian former professional cricketer. He was born in Madras; his father is cricketer Kris Srikkanth. He has played for Chennai Super Kings and Sunrisers Hyderabad in the Indian Premier League. An a ...

, each of them scoring unbeaten six-ball 18. In their last home match of the league stage, Chennai comprehensively beat the Delhi Daredevils by nine wickets. Against Kolkata Knight Riders, needing five to win on the last ball for CSK,

Dwayne Bravo Dwayne John Bravo (born 7 October 1983) is a Trinidadian cricketer and a former captain of the West Indies cricket team. A genuine right arm seam bowling all-rounder, Bravo is well known for his aggressive lower-order batting and for his bowli ...

hit a six over long-on off the bowling of

Rajat Bhatia Rajat Bhatia (born 22 October 1979) is an Indian former professional cricketer. He played for a number of teams, such as Tamil Nadu, Delhi, Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders and Rising Pune Supergiants. He was a part of the MRF Pace Founda ...

to take the Super Kings to a 5-wicket win. Needing a win in their last league match to assure their place in the Playoffs, the Super Kings lost to

by 7 wickets at

Dharamsala Dharamshala (; also spelled Dharamsala) is the winter capital of Himachal Pradesh, India. It serves as administrative headquarters of the Kangra district after being relocated from Kangra, a city located away from Dharamshala, in 1855. The ...

. However, Royal Challengers Bangalore and Chennai Super Kings, both ended up with 17 points from 16 games, but the latter managed to get the fourth spot on the points table due to a better

net run rate Net run rate (NRR) is a statistical method used in analysing teamwork and/or performance in cricket. It is the most commonly used method of ranking teams with equal points in limited overs league competitions, similar to goal difference in foo ...

. The Super Kings played

in the Eliminator at

. After losing two early wickets, Hussey and Badrinath shared a 94-run third-wicket partnership to take the team to a respectable position. Then, the skipper

MS Dhoni Mahendra Singh Dhoni (; born 7 July 1981) is an Indian former international cricketer who was captain of the Indian national cricket team in limited-overs formats from 2007 to 2017 and in Test cricket from 2008 to 2014. He is also the curren ...

and Dwayne Bravo scored 73 runs in the last five overs to set up a score of 187/5 in 20 overs. Mumbai in their run-chase got off to a brisk start before a dramatic batting collapse. CSK spinners Ashwin and Jakati picked up one wicket each and bowled seven economical overs between them that proved decisive in the context of the match. CSK won the match by 38 runs and Dhoni was given the Man of the Match for his innings of 51* (20). The win took them to the second Qualifier at

, a match against

, to decide who plays in the final. Daredevils won the toss and put Chennai into bat and this decision backfired. Opener

Murali Vijay Murali Vijay (born 1 April 1984) is an Indian international cricketer who plays as a right-handed opening batsman. He was a regular member of the Indian Test team until 2018 and plays for Tamil Nadu in domestic first-class cricket. After fail ...

, who had a quiet season until then, came to his own striking a century (113 runs from 60 deliveries, 15 fours and four sixes) to take his team to 222/5. The bowlers backed up the good batting by bowling tight line and length and picking up wickets at regular intervals. Only

Mahela Jayawardene Denagamage Praboth Mahela de Silva Jayawardene ( si, දෙනගමගේ ප්‍රබෝත් මහේල ද සිල්වා ජයවර්ධන; born 27 May 1977) is a former Sri Lankan cricketer who is the current consultant coach ...

showed some resistance for Delhi with a knock of 55 but to see his team lose by 86 runs. The win booked CSK's place in the final at their home ground Chennai against the

. This was the fourth time in five seasons, that CSK had made it to the final of the IPL. Chennai elected to bat in the final after winning the toss. After a solid opening partnership between Hussey and Vijay,

Suresh Raina Suresh Raina (; born 27 November 1986) is an Indian former international cricketer. He occasionally served as stand-in captain for Indian men's national cricket team during the absence of the main captain. He played for Uttar Pradesh (UP) in ...

played his best innings of the season scoring an unbeaten 38-ball 73. Chennai went on to make 190/3 in 20 overs. Kolkata lost the wicket of their skipper Gambhir in the first over of the run-chase. Then

Manvinder Bisla Manvinder Singh Bisla (born 27 December 1984) is an Indian cricketer. He is a wicket-keeper and right-handed batsman who currently plays for Goa. Bisla is one of the lesser known of the wicketkeeper batsman that Indian cricket unearthed from t ...

, who was playing his first game in two weeks, took on the bowlers single-handedly and scored 89 from 48 balls. Batting at three,

Jacques Kallis Jacques Henry Kallis (born 16 October 1975) is a South African cricket coach and former cricketer. Widely regarded as one of the greatest cricketers of all time and as South Africa's greatest batsman ever, he is a right-handed batsman and righ ...

not only scored 69 (49) but also put up a crucial second-wicket stand of 136 runs with Bisla. However, the game swung CSK's way after KKR lost four wickets in as many overs. After the fall of Kallis in the 19th over, KKR needed 16 runs to win from 7 balls. KKR went on to win the game by five wickets with two balls to spare thanks to two consecutive boundaries from Manoj Tiwary in the last over. The Knight Riders secured their maiden IPL title with this win and Bisla won the Man of the Match award. Suresh Raina finished as Chennai's leading run scorer with 441 runs. Dwayne Bravo lead the bowling tables with 15 wickets.

Pre-season player signings

Squad

Indian Premier League

Match log

Most runs

Most wickets

Champions League Twenty20

Match log

Most runs

Most wickets

See also

References

External links