Chennai Super Kings (CSK) snapped Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) winning streak with a comfortable 55-run victory in the Indian Premier League (IPL) III at the Eden Gardens here on Tuesday.
The thumping victory can be attributed to CSK's better planning, ruthless execution and above all an insatiable hunger to return to winning ways.
A large part of the credit should go to Mahendra Singh Dhoni's inspiring leadership. Having batted excellently to take his team to a position of strength, Dhoni made sure his bowlers routed KKR in front of its home crowd. He was rightly chosen Man of the Match.
Early damage
KKR had nothing to offer when faced with a target of 165. It lost Brad Hodge when the innings was just two balls old. The Aussie fell pulling Albie Morkel for no score. After Manoj Tiwary had fallen in the next over to Manpreet Gony, Sourav Ganguly and Wriddhiman Saha tried to repair the damage.
But Saha's departure left KKR in tatters. It just could not recover from the situation and folded up for 109 in 19.2 overs. The best partnership (25 runs, 31 balls) was produced by the last pair of Murali Kartik and Ishant Sharma.
Earlier, CSK decided to bat on a pitch that lacked pace or bounce.
Yet Shane Bond, given his first match, worked up good pace to rattle Murali Vijay but the opener withstood the test.
The early departure of Matthew Hayden did not deter the second-wicket pair of Vijay and Suresh Raina and the two added 37 runs off 33 balls.
When Laxmi Ratan Shukla clean bowled Vijay for 33 (26b, 5x4), with the team's total at 53, and Raina fell two runs later, it seemed that KKR had the game under control.
Scintillating shots
Dhoni then joined S. Badrinath and the two produced some scintillating strokes to not only halt KKR in its tracks but also take CSK to a total which looked like a big target to chase.
Dhoni paced his innings superbly. His splendid 66 (33b, 6x4, 3x6) and Badrinath's 43 (33b, 3x4, 1x6) proved decisive in the end. The two put on an unbroken 109-run partnership off just 55 balls.
KKR's last five overs cost the team a whopping 68 runs with Ishant Sharma's last over producing 16 runs.
The scores: Chennai Super Kings: M. Vijay b Shukla 33 (26b, 5 x 4), M. Hayden b Ishant 1 (8b), S. Raina b Hodge 18 (20b, 2 x 4), S. Badrinath (not out) 43 (33b, 3 x 4, 1 x 6), M.S. Dhoni (not out) 66 (33b, 6 x 4, 3 x 6); Extras (lb-2, w-1): 3. Total (for three wkts. in 20 overs): 164.
Fall of wickets: 1-16, 2-53, 3-55.
Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Bond 4-0-33-0, Ishant 4-0-38-1, Mathews 3-0-29-0, Shukla 4-0-37-1, Kartik 4-0-21-0, Hodge 1-0-4-1.
Kolkata Knight Riders: B. Hodge c Ashwin b Morkel 0 (2b), M. Tiwary b Gony 8 (3b, 2 x 4), S. Ganguly c Morkel b Kemp 11 (20b, 1 x 4), W. Saha b Balaji 22 (13, 5 x 4), O. Shah c Dhoni b Balaji 5 (4b, 1 x 4), A. Mathews lbw b Kemp 6 (13b), L.R. Shukla c Morkel b Muralitharan 19 (16b 3 x 4), R. Gavaskar c Vijay b Kemp 2 (8b), S. Bond b Ashwin 1 (2b), M. Kartik (run out) 21 (20b, 2 x 4), Ishant (not out) 6 (15b); Extras (lb-5, w-3): 8. Total (in 19.2 overs): 109.
Fall of wickets: 1-0, 2-8, 3-34, 4-46, 5-55, 6-69, 7-79, 8-82, 9-84.
Chennai Super Kings bowling: Morkel 2-1-6-1, Gony 3-0-33-1, Balaji 2.2-0-9-2, Muralitharan 4-0-16-1, Kemp 3-0-12-3, Ashwin 4-0-22-1, Raina 1-0-6-0.
