Kolkata Knight Riders 140-5 (Gautam Gambhir 63, Jacques Kalllis 26, Ravichandran Ashwin 2-27) beat Chennai Super Kings 139-5 (Suresh Raina 44, MS Dhoni 34*, Jacques Kallis 2-21) by 5 wickets.
Gautam Gambhir demonstrated a polished knock of 63 runs and laid a solid foundation of victory for Kolkata Knight Riders vs.Chennai Super Kings.
Chennai Super Kings scored 139 runs with five wickets still in hand in 20 overs and Kolkata Knight Riders went past that by smashing 140 for the loss of five wickets.
Debabrata Das (Kolkata Knight Riders) was declared ‘Player of the match’ for his match winning 11 runs scored off just 4 balls with two fours in the dying moments.
The 41st match of the Indian Premier League 2012 was played on Monday, April 30, 2012 at MA Chidambaram Stadium, Cheapauk, Chennai.
Earlier, MS Dhoni, captain of Chennai Super Kings, won the toss and sent his openers Faf du Plessis and Michael Hussey in to bat. They lost the first wicket for mere five runs when du Plessis was gone for three runs and the young Suresh Raina walked in the centre. The score was enhanced to 32 as Hussey was run out for 18 and Dwayne Bravo took guards and picked up the run rate with Raina by getting 11 runs in the sixth over which included one six and a four.
Raina was the most aggressive of the two and punched a boundary almost in every over to follow and 42 runs were added in 5.1 overs for the third wicket. Bravo became the next victim at his personal contribution of just 12 runs as the score board displayed 74 runs and 14 runs later, Raina was caught by Yusuf Pathan at mid wicket off Jacques Kallis for 44 off 34 balls with one six and 4 fours.
MS Dhoni stabilised innings with little contribution from the other side and displayed a thoughtful unbeaten innings of 34 off 30 deliveries assisted with 2 fours. Albie Morkal was at the crease for 13 as Chennai Super Kings managed 139 runs for the loss of five wickets in the assigned 20 overs.
Jacques Kallis was the top wicket taker with two as Brett Lee and Sunil Narine claimed one wicket each.
Kolkata Knight Riders lost their first wicket at just 14 runs when Brendon MaCullum was caught at mid –off by Shadab Jakati on the bowling of Ravichandran Ashwin for two runs. Jacques Kallis dropped in next and joined with the smooth going captain, Gautam Gambhir, pushed along the scoring rate and the first fifty of the innings was completed in the 8th over. Gambhir led the attack and Kallis kept on consolidating at the other end as the batsmen found it hard to score the boundaries at will.
The second wicket associated 70 runs in 9.4 overs when Kallis was caught behind by the wicketkeeper Dhoni off Dwayne Bravo for 26 from 31 deliveries with one six and a four. Gautam Gambhir achieved his fifty on the fourth ball of the 15th over by stealing a single followed by back to back fours on the next two deliveries and the hundred of the innings was also accomplished. The match took an interesting turn when Gambhir was declared leg before wicket on the first ball of the 19th over off Bravo for 63 from 52 balls with one six and 6 fours.
Gambhir was the fourth batsman who went back to the pavilion for 124 and Kolkata Knight Riders still required 16 runs to win the match in 11 balls. Debabrata Das associated with Yusuf Pathan and the target was shrunk to 6 from even balls. Yusuf got two runs on the first ball of the last over from Ravichandran Ashwin, the next one was a dot ball and lost his wicket on the third delivery. Das played a gem of a short innings by dispatching 11 runs on mere four balls and dispatched the fourth ball out of the mid wicket boundary for a four as the target was attained by scoring 140 runs with five wickets in hand.
Ravichandran Ashwin and Dwayne Bravo were the main wicket takers with two each as Albie Morkal held one wicket.
Points secured by two teams after the end of the 41st match of the IPL 2012:
Kolkata Knight Riders – 13 from 10 games at a net run rate of +0.632.
Chennai Super Kings – 9 from 10 games at a net run rate of -0.029.
Leave a Reply