Du Plessis blasts Chennai into final

The result: Sunrisers Hyderabad 7-139 (Brathwaite 43no, Bravo 2-25) lost to Chennai Super Kings 8-140 (Du Plessis 67no, Rashid 2-11) by two wickets with five balls remaining.

The match in a tweet: Second-placed Super Kings pull off the great heist to advance through to IPL final thanks to some Protea fire! #SRHvCSK

The Protea power: No man has made more of a difference in such an important match this campaign than Faf Du Plessis’ effort against the ladder leaders. The Protea skipper calmly guided Chennai home with an unbeaten-67 from just 42 balls, a knock that included five boundaries and four sixes. He watched as his side were reduced to 6-62 midway through the innings but wasn’t flustered, instead counter-attacking and finding the rope. With wickets falling rapidly and the equation at 43 runs required from the final three overs, he deposited Carlos Brathwaite (0-31) for four boundaries in an over and then sealed an unlikely victory with a six.

Catches win matches: Dwayne Bravo is a human highlight reel and the Mumbai crowd saw no different against Hyderabad. Yusuf Pathan (24) started to hit his straps before plundering a ball back at the ankles of Bravo, who was still in full stride on his follow-through. Bravo simply stuck his hands out, claimed the catch and rolled into his customary celebration dance, as lightly as a trapeze artist would. The caught and bowled dismissal was just one of four on the night, but Bravo’s was by far the most picture worthy.

The ball: Although on the losing side, Rashid Khan (2-11) did everything he could to drag his team back into the contest, including the near impossible task of removing MS Dhoni. Eight of the last ten innings by the Chennai skipper finished with him unbeaten, before Rashid restricted, then terminated the Indian veteran. A stunning wrong-un went unpicked by Dhoni, who left the gate open after trying to work the ball onto the off-side. The Super Kings’ eventual final opponents will likely target Dhoni with spin after seeing the rare sight of his stumps rattled.

The next stop: Chennai advance through to their seventh IPL final after defeating the Sunrisers, Dhoni looking to avenge last year’s loss with the Rising Pune Supergiant and add a third piece of silverware to the collection. As for Kane Williamson’s Hyderabad, they’ll meet the victor of Kolkata and Rajasthan in the second eliminator, the winning side to play off for the trophy on Sunday against the Super Kings.