Chennai Super Kings eke out two-run victory over Kolkata Knight Riders

Sudhir Gupta 08:40 29/04/2015
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  • Turning it on: Ravichandran Ashwin claimed two wickets in his two overs conceding five runs to unsettle Kolkata’s chase.

    Mahendra Singh Dhoni praised his Chennai Super Kings for pulling off a “fantastic victory” against def-ending champions Kolkata Knight Riders last night.

    On a tricky MA Chidambaram pitch, the Chennai bowlers and fielders made a strong defence of their modest total of 134 and squeezed a thrilling two-run victory that lifted the two-time champions to the top of the points table.

    They were also aided by some mindless batting by Kolkata, who lost the plot despite a fantastic start provided by opener Robin Uthappa (39 off 17 balls).

    Kolkata were cruising at 52-1 after five overs but once Ravichandran Ashwin dismissed Uthappa with Brendon McCullum taking a smart, low catch at short mid-wicket, they lost their way.

    Having made the breakthrough Dhoni stepped in and cleverly shuffled his bowling pack to unsettle Kolkata’s chase.

    With McCullum, Suresh Raina, Dwyane Bravo and Faf du Plessis putting up a grand fielding display to choke the run flow, Chennai gained ascendancy.

    From a comfortable position of 74 runs needed off 78 balls with eight wickets in hand, Kolkata ended up facing a daunting task of scoring 45 in the last 30 balls.

    Spinners Ashwin, Ravindra Jadeja and Raina restricted the run flow conceding just 17 runs in six overs as Kolkata failed to hit a boundary in 11 overs.

    All-rounders Yusuf Pathan (13 off 18 balls) and Ryan ten Doeschate (38 not out off 28 balls) were guilty of not rotating the strike allowing Chennai to seize control. 

    Though Doeschate made a late charge smacking three fours and two sixes in the final two overs it was too late.

    Chennai were hampered by a finger injury to Ashwin, who bowled only two overs, but Bravo stepped up by claiming three wickets in his three overs. 

    Dhoni felt his team stood up to the challenge posed by the pitch which had turn and bounce with the odd ball keeping low. 

    “This was the wicket where you don’t know what is a good score,” he said.

    “If you bat well you can score 160 and if you bowl well you can defend 125. That’s what I told the team. The game changes after the sixth over. 

    “Robin gave them a good start, but we came back with some good fielding and some good bowling.

    “We want to take one game at a time. What’s important is to keep going well, of course there will be some games were you will lose, but what’s important is to keep performing at your best.”

    Earlier the Kolkata bowlers had done an excellent job of restricting Chennai to 134-6 with spinners Piyush Chawla (2-26) and veteran Brad Hogg (1-18) leading the way.

    Hogg, 44,  playing his first match of the season also became the oldest player to feature in an IPL game.

    Opener Dwayne Smith (25) and du Plessis (29 not out) were the top scorers for Chennai who failed to get going after raising 48 runs in five overs.

    Kolkata captain Gautam Gambhir was upset with his batsmen for frittering away a golden opportunity.

    “Containing Chennai to 134 was tremendous. We should have chased it down, especially with the start we got, but the batsmen got stuck,” he said.

    “We play them again in two days, so hopefully we can turn it around,” Gambhir added, looking forward to the home clash against Chennai tomorrow.

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