Find out team news, TV and streaming information, odds, head-to-head record, weather forecast and much, much more ahead of the final of the Indian Premier League season
Chennai Super Kings take on Kolkata Knight Riders in final of the 2021 Indian Premier League.
The game is scheduled for 7.30pm IST (3pm BST) on Friday, October 15, 2021.
The final will be held at the Dubai International Stadium in Dubai.
After finishing second in the regular season and losing their final three group matches, Chennai Super Kings entered the knockout stage in poor form. However, in the first qualifier match, they defeated Delhi Capitals by four wickets with two balls remaining to automatically qualify for the final.
Kolkata Knight Riders, meanwhile, will be hoping that every IPL in future is held in the UAE. Eoin Morgan's side won just two matches in the first half of the tournament before winning five of their remaining seven fixtures to progress to the knockout stages in fourth place.
KKR chased down 138 to defeat RCB by four wickets in the eliminator before defeating Delhi Capitals by three wickets in the eliminator to reach the final. Against Delhi, KKR lost six wickets for just seven runs to set up a dramatic finish but hung on to seal the win with one ball to spare.
When the two sides met in the group stages, Chennai were triumphant on both occasions, winning by 18 runs in April and two wickets in September.
Dafabet cannot separate these two sides, offering odds of 10/11 against either result.
Ruturaj Gaikwad is the favourite to top-score for CSK and is available at 21/10. Shubman Gill is at 5/2 to top-score for KKR.
Ruturaj Gaikwad has been the standout batter for CSK this season. The 24-year-old scored 70 runs off 50 balls against Delhi Capitals to help steer his side to the final and passed 40 in five of his past eight IPL innings. With 603 runs, including one century and four half-centuries, in 15 matches, Gaikwad needs just 24 runs in the final to overtake KL Rahul as the Orange Cap. With an average of 46.38 and a strike rate of 137.35, Gaikwad (who is ranked 246th on the T20 Player Index) will be the crucial wicket in the final.
Also keep an eye on skipper MS Dhoni. His batting and leadership has been called into question on many occasions this season but he came good in the qualifier, blasting 18 runs off just six balls to lead his side to the final. A fairy-tale ending to the 2021 season could be on the card for the veteran.
Venkatesh Iyer has played a huge hand in KKR's upturn in form, scoring 320 runs in nine innings in the UAE. The 26-year-old has scored three half-centuries in the tournament to date and has failed to reach double-figures just once. Given the weakness of KKR's middle-order, how he performs will be crucial to their title chances.
The Knight Riders have their own exciting veteran in Dinesh Karthik (214 runs at a strike rate of 131.28) while with the ball, Varun Chakravarthy has been on fire. The 30-year-old spinner has taken 18 wickets in 16 innings and is conceding just 6.4 runs per over.
CSK have lost Sam Curran for the remainder of the torunament due to a lower back injury. KKR have been without Andre Russell since their two-wicket loss to CSK in mid-September but even if the West Indian is fit, they will be unlikely to change their winning XI.
The two teams have played each other 25 times.
Chennai Super Kings win: 16
Kolkata Knight Riders win: 8
No result: 1
The sun will shine on Dubai for the IPL final, with temperatures peaking at 32 degrees Celsius.
Follow the Met Office forecast here.
Yes, a limited number of fans are allowed to attend games during the IPL's UAE leg.
KKR have the momentum but their dramatic collapse against Delhi Capitals was concerning. CSK have their mojo back after their qualifier victory and should get over the line.
IPL TEAM GUIDES
Sky Sports have the rights in the United Kingdom.
You can aso stream the tournament using the Disney+ Hotstar digital platform, though the matches are only available for VIP or Premium subscribers.
Star Sports have the television rights in India.
Streaming service YuppTV have acquired digital streaming rights in a host of markets, including Australia, continental Europe, Malaysia, Southeast Asia with the exception of Singapore, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bhutan, the Maldives, Central Asia, and Central and South America.
In the USA, the games will be broadcast on Willow TV and the Willow TV website. Fox Sports have the broadcasting rights in Australia, while Supersport will televise the games in South Africa. In the Caribbean, Flow TV have the rights.
The following broadcasters owning the rights for their respective regions:
Bangladesh: Channel 9
Afghanistan: Lemar TV
Malaysia: Measat
MENA/UAE: BeIN Sport
Hong Kong: Now TV
Singapore: SingTel
New Zealand: Sky Sport
Papua New Guinea: EMTV
Chennai Super Kings: Suresh Raina, MS Dhoni, Narayan Jagadeesabn, Ruturaj Gaikwad, KM Asif, Karn Sharma, Ambati Rayudu, Deepak Chahar, Faf du Plessis, Shardul Thakur, Mitchell Santner, Dwayne Bravo, Lungi Ngidi, Sam Curran, Ravindra Jadeja, Imran Tahir, Robin Uthappa, Moeen Ali, K Gowtham, Cheteshwar Pujara, M.Harisankar Reddy, K.Bhagath Varma, C Hari Nishaanth, R Sai Kishore, Josh Hazlewood
Kolkata Knight Riders: Dinesh Karthik, Andre Russell, Kamlesh Nagarkoti, Kuldeep Yadav, Lockie Ferguson, Nitish Rana, Prasidh Krishna, Gurkeerat Singh Mann, Sandeep Warrier, Shivam Mavi, Shubman Gill, Sunil Narine, Eoin Morgan, Rahul Tripathi, Varun Chakravarthy, Pawan Negi, Tim Seifert, Shakib al Hasan, Sheldon Jackson, Vaibhav Arora, Karun Nair, Harbhajan Singh, Ben Cutting, Venkatesh Iyer
Chennai Super Kings: Ruturaj Gaikwad, Faf du Plessis, Robin Uthappa, Shardal Thakur, Ambati Rayudu, Moeen Ali, MS Dhoni, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Deepak Chahar, Josh Hazlewood
Kolkata Knight Riders: Shubman Gill, Venkatesh Iyer, Nitish Rana, Rahul Tripathi, Dinesh Karthik, Eoin Morgan, Shakib Al Hasan, Sunil Narine, Lockie Ferguson, Shivam Mavi, Varun Chakravarthy
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