IPL: Chennai eye third consecutive title as they take on Kolkata

Defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) will would back themselves to claim a hat-trick of Indian Premier League (IPL) titles when they take on an equally confident Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) in what promises to be a thrilling showdown in Chennai on Sunday.

Chennai managed to sneak into the play-offs and then pushed Mumbai Indians and Delhi Daredevils, the most consistent side of the league, out of the tournament.

The experience of playing big matches and the good form of all their batsmen right from top to number eight, Chennai look to have en edge against Kolkata, who will be playing their first IPL final in five editions so far.

Chennai are into their third straight final and the experience of handling pressure situations would stand them in good stead.

Kolkata bowlers, specially spinner Sunil Narine, hold the key for them since the Chennai batsman are in scorching form.

From Murali Vijay to skipper MS Dhoni to Dwayne Bravo, everyone has started scoring runs and that too at a quick pace. Despite making an average start, they went on to score big in the last two outings.

It will be quite a battle between Kolkata bowlers and Chennai batsman at the MA Chidambaram stadium.

Kolkata skipper Gautam Gambhir has shown a lot of faith in a few players such as Brendon McCullum and Yusuf Pathan. Despite them not contributing much, Gambhir kept playing them.

The result is that finally Pathan scored a match-winning 40-run cameo in the Qualfier I against Delhi and they found themselves in final.