At long last, a win and in a fairytale chase at that. After having wondered how long the roll of the dice would go against them, stunning knocks by skipper Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge let Kolkata Knight Riders pinch a seven-wicket victory off the last ball of their DLF Indian Premier League match against Chennai Super Kings here on Monday.
Chasing a tall 189-run target - the second highest score in IPL 2009 - Knight Riders set off in relentless pursuit with McCullum and Hodge believing that they could end the string of defeats. McCullum spared no bowler as he took upon himself the task of spurring the team along on the road to victory. Chennai Super Kings captain MS Dhoni searched in vain for ways to stop him.
Off-spinner Muttiah Muralitharan was a veritable picture of mastery of his craft as he bowled four overs for 16 runs but paceman Albie Morkel, Sudeep Tyagi and L Balaji were prodigal on Monday night.
McCcullum smashed 81 off 48 balls (11 fours, three sixes) while Sourav Ganguly fell cheaply and Hodge played himself in during their 90-run second-wicket stand. He was particularly severe on Sudeep Tyagi, one of Chennai Super Kings’ most efficient bowlers, striking him for four successive fours and a six in one over to power Kolkata Knight Riders' chase.
Hodge (71 not out, 44 balls, four fours, four sixes) took charge after McCullum was bowled by Shadab Jakati and waded into L Balaji, Chennai Super Kings' death over specialist. Hodge added 56 runs off 28 balls with Wriddhiman Saha (25 13 balls, two fours and a six), to see the side home in a nerve-wracking finish when Suresh Raina very nearly bowled a magical final over.
Earlier, Raina top-scored for Chennai Super Kings with a half-century that lifted him to fourth place in the list of run scorers in IPL 2009 behind Matthew Hayden, AB de Villiers and Adam Gilchrist. He shared a breezy 74-run stand with Mahendra Singh Dhoni who made an unbeaten 40 to make sure that Chennai Super Kings would nor rue the decision to rest Hayden.
The victory salvaged some pride for Kolkata Knight Riders who were frustrated in several close contests from the time they were beaten in a Super Over by Rajasthan Royals in Cape Town in the second week of the tournament. The defeat will make Chennai Super Kings fret over not having sealed the second semifinal place behind Delhi Daredevils.
Of course, with a superior net run rate, Chennai Super Kings would make it to the semifinals even if they lose narrowly to Kings XI Punjab in their last league game but there is one highly improbable scenario that can worry them.
If they lose to Kings XI Punjab, they will finish with 15 points while Delhi Daredevils, Kings XI Punjab (16 points), Deccan Chargers or Royal Challengers Bangalore (16 points) can be ahead. Rajasthan Royals can edge ahead of Chennai Super Kings with a massive win over Kolkata Knight Riders and have a better net run rate. But at the moment, Chennai Super Kings are way ahead on that count.
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