Dwayne Bravo's 39-ball 67 helped Chennai Super Kings beat Kings XI Punjab by in impressive 65-run margin to make the final of the Champions League Twenty20 on Thursday.
Chennai were put in to bat by the opposition and lost openers, Brendon McCullum and Dwayne Smith, inside the first five overs for just 29 runs.
Suresh Raina's departure in the sixth over added to Chennai's woes as they looked to make their seventh final. The collapse brought Bravo and Faf du Plessis together in the middle.
The duo scored 65 runs for the fourth wicket. They began cautiously and rotated the strike regularly but Bravo led the onslaught from the 12th over onwards, when he clubbed Thisara Perera for two fours.
The West Indies allrounder then lofted Karanveer Singh for a six over deep midwicket an over later. His partner's dismissal in the 14th over didn't stop Bravo as he smashed Perera for two fours and a six in the 15th over and then followed it up by hitting Anureet Singh for two fours an over later. He lofted Anureet for another six in the 18th over before he was dismissed.
Bravo's aggressive display helped his side to a sizeable 182 runs in their 20 overs. Kings XI's batsmen failed to settle in their innings. The side from Punjab lost five wickets for just 34 runs in the first eight overs. They failed to recover from the loss of early wickets and managed just 117 in their reply to Chennai's total.
"It's a very good wicket, as long as you give yourself a chance. It's not a wicket where you can play your shots right from the start. It was a great opportunity for me to get some time in the middle," Bravo said after he won the Man-of-the-Match award.
"Well played to Faf du Plessis and Jadeja in the end. The game plan between me and Faf was to bat till around the 14th over, then we lost Mahi first ball, that pulled me back a bit, so I told myself I need to bat till the 18th over."