Monday night saw another last over encounter in this season of the DLF IPL and this time it was the Kolkata Knight Riders team that emerged victorious over the Chennai Super Kings. Chennai were batting first at the Chepauk and they were boosted by the return of Mr. Cricket Michael Hussey. He was the one who opened the innings for the CSK along with the consistent Faf du Plessis. CSK were expecting big runs from these prolific scorers. But Brett Lee had other ideas as he got the better of du Plessis as he edged one into the gloves of McCullum and was out for just 3. Raina joined Hussey in the middle and he was on the verge of becoming the 1st player to score 2000 runs in IPL history. He achieved the feat easily and was looking set for a big score. CSK were going along well with Hussey and Raina at the crease, but a brilliant work from Lee resulted in Hussey being run out for 18. Bravo was sent up the order to give the innings the much needed momentum. But the Chennai batsmen were finding it tough to score the boundaries. Bravo and Raina were dismissed in quick successions as they tried to up the ante. Raina gave away his wicket at the wrong time a he was set on 44 and needed to carry on. Dhoni and Jadeja now had the responsibility on their shoulders to take the CSK score past 160 but they failed to do so and the KKR bowlers tied them down. Ultimately, CSK finished on 139/5 with Dhoni being not out on 34 in 30 balls. Kallis was the pick of the bowlers for KKR as he took 2 for 21.
Kolkata Knight Riders had a moderate total to chase and with the big names in their line up, everyone expected them to get to the score easily. But the pitch wasn't an easy one to play shots. McCullum got stuck for sometime before he was foxed by Ashwin and was out for 2 of 8 balls. That brought Kallis to the crease and the duo of Kallis and Gambhir played intelligently, mixing caution with aggression. They gathered runs without taking any risks and put on a partnership of 70 runs before Kallis was dismissed on 26. But Gambhir was looking rock solid at the other end and was a class apart. The dismissal of Kallis created some sort of panic in the KKR camp as Gambhir could have been run out twice had the Chennai fielders hit the timber. Tiwary could not do much as he came and went, scoring just 13. With 16 needed of the last 2 overs, the match was well poised and when Gambhir was shown the way to the pavilion by Bravo of the first delivery, CSK were surely entertaining thoughts of a victory. The match went right down to the wire with Kolkata needing 6 of the last over bowled by Ashwin. Yusuf Pathan tried to finish the match in style, but gave away his wicket in the process. KKR now needed 4 of 3 balls and everyone was the edge of their seats. But Das ensured that there was no more drama as he hit Ashwin for a 4. With this victory, KKR moved to the 2nd position in the table and are just a point behind Delhi Daredevils.
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