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Kolkata - A quickfire knock from Ravindra Jadeja guided the Chennai Super Kings to a four-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders in their Indian Premier League clash at Eden Gardens in Kolkata on Saturday.
According to the supersport.com website, in reply to the Knight Riders' very mediocre 119/9 in 20 overs, the Super Kings ended on 124/6, with five balls remaining.
Jadeja smashed 36 not out off just 14 deliveries with three fours and three sixes, the last of which was hit off Irfan Pathan (1.1-0-9-1) to win the match. Jadeja was able to guide his team home thanks to another anchor innings from Mike Hussey.
Gautam Gambhir had earlier won the toss and decided to bat first on a track that looked as if it would slow up later in the game, and his decision was justified as he and Pathan raced to 44 without loss after five overs. But then it took a great catch by Hussey, running around from the third-man area, to dismiss Gambhir off Chris Morris (1-12) for 25 from 19 balls.
Once Gambhir had departed, KKR fell apart as Jacques Kallis (0) was run out without facing a ball. Eoin Morgan (2) then chipped a slow ball from Dwayne Bravo (1-14) to mid-wicket and two balls later Pathan (25) was also run out going for a second run.
At 55 for four at the end of the eighth over, the 'spin twins' of Jadeja (3-20) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2-21) combined to dismantle the remaining Kolkata batsmen.
Ashwin removed Debabrata Das (19) and then Manoj Tiwary (13) after the pair had added 27 runs for the fifth wicket. But then Jadeja removed Rajat Bhatia (1), caught and bowled, Laxmi Shukla (1) and finally Sunil Narine (13), who had smashed two sixes over mid-wicket.
In reply, the Super Kings started off slowly, but steadily as Hussey and Ashwin added 24 off 28 deliveries for the first wicket. It was a surprise to see Ashwin open the batting as he had never batted higher than seventh in an IPL game.
Narine (4-0-21-1) then dismissed Ashwin (11), caught by Sachitra Sananayake on the boundary in the fifth over. With Gambhir introducing both his spinners, the runs dried up, as Chennai struggled to find the boundary. Sananayake (4-0-18-1) then trapped Murali Vijay (2) in front followed by the dismissal of Suresh Raina (7) off the bowling of Pathan.
A potentially big turning point in the match was the run-out of MS Dhoni (9) in the 12th over, to leave the visitors on 54 for four. Subramaniam Badrinath (6) was then clean bowled by a yorker from Kallis (1-34), which left the home crowd believing that their team could defend 119.
This belief grew once Hussey (41) departed in the 17th over. But Jadeja smashed 15 runs off Kallis's last over to rip the game away from Kolkata. In a fitting way, Jadeja then smashed Pathan for six off the first ball of the last over to win the match and condemn the Knight Riders to their first home defeat of the season.
Chennai now move onto eight points from six matches, and close the gap on the log-leading Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Kolkata remain on four points from the same amount of games.
According to the supersport.com website, in reply to the Knight Riders' very mediocre 119/9 in 20 overs, the Super Kings ended on 124/6, with five balls remaining.
Jadeja smashed 36 not out off just 14 deliveries with three fours and three sixes, the last of which was hit off Irfan Pathan (1.1-0-9-1) to win the match. Jadeja was able to guide his team home thanks to another anchor innings from Mike Hussey.
Gautam Gambhir had earlier won the toss and decided to bat first on a track that looked as if it would slow up later in the game, and his decision was justified as he and Pathan raced to 44 without loss after five overs. But then it took a great catch by Hussey, running around from the third-man area, to dismiss Gambhir off Chris Morris (1-12) for 25 from 19 balls.
Once Gambhir had departed, KKR fell apart as Jacques Kallis (0) was run out without facing a ball. Eoin Morgan (2) then chipped a slow ball from Dwayne Bravo (1-14) to mid-wicket and two balls later Pathan (25) was also run out going for a second run.
At 55 for four at the end of the eighth over, the 'spin twins' of Jadeja (3-20) and Ravichandran Ashwin (2-21) combined to dismantle the remaining Kolkata batsmen.
Ashwin removed Debabrata Das (19) and then Manoj Tiwary (13) after the pair had added 27 runs for the fifth wicket. But then Jadeja removed Rajat Bhatia (1), caught and bowled, Laxmi Shukla (1) and finally Sunil Narine (13), who had smashed two sixes over mid-wicket.
In reply, the Super Kings started off slowly, but steadily as Hussey and Ashwin added 24 off 28 deliveries for the first wicket. It was a surprise to see Ashwin open the batting as he had never batted higher than seventh in an IPL game.
Narine (4-0-21-1) then dismissed Ashwin (11), caught by Sachitra Sananayake on the boundary in the fifth over. With Gambhir introducing both his spinners, the runs dried up, as Chennai struggled to find the boundary. Sananayake (4-0-18-1) then trapped Murali Vijay (2) in front followed by the dismissal of Suresh Raina (7) off the bowling of Pathan.
A potentially big turning point in the match was the run-out of MS Dhoni (9) in the 12th over, to leave the visitors on 54 for four. Subramaniam Badrinath (6) was then clean bowled by a yorker from Kallis (1-34), which left the home crowd believing that their team could defend 119.
This belief grew once Hussey (41) departed in the 17th over. But Jadeja smashed 15 runs off Kallis's last over to rip the game away from Kolkata. In a fitting way, Jadeja then smashed Pathan for six off the first ball of the last over to win the match and condemn the Knight Riders to their first home defeat of the season.
Chennai now move onto eight points from six matches, and close the gap on the log-leading Sunrisers Hyderabad, while Kolkata remain on four points from the same amount of games.
