The Chennai skipper MS Dhoni won the toss and elected to bat first. Chennai had a set-back with the tournament highest scorer Matthew Hayden ruled out due to an injury. Meanwhile KKR had four changes - the expensive Mortaza, Shoaib Shaikh, Yashpal Singh and Ishant Sharma went out while Ajantha Mendis, Ashok Dinda, Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Anureet Singh came in.
In the nonappearance of Matthew Hayden, George Bailey joined Parthiv Patel at the opening. The pair took Chennai off to a quick start, not letting the Kolkata bowlers to settle down. They took advantage of the powerplay, scoring at a run-rate of 9 per over, while KKR continued with their sorry effort in the fielding sector. The Knight Riders finally got the break when a pointed throw from Shukla found Parthiv Patel short of the crease, bringing the 59 run partnership to an end. Things slowed down for Chennai after Parthiv's dismissal. Kolkata hooked things back with the spinners bowled in racing bike. The pressure resulted in one more wicket when George Bailey was run-out thanks to one more direct hit by Shukla.
Raina and Dhoni got together and took over the duty of taking Chennai to a good total. Singles and twos along with usual boundaries was the feature of their partnership. Kolkata's fielding got from bad to worse when Murali Karthik put down a simple chance offered by MS Dhoni in the 14th over, much to the anger of Agarkar. Raina and Dhoni maintained a good run-rate while entering the bereavement overs. Raina was the first to step on the accelerator, scoring successive sixers off Mendis in the 16th over. Raina went on to score his fifty with a six off Dinda. However his innings came to an end just after that when he holed out to Shukla, who looked to be the only fielder in the Knight Riders camp capable of taking the catch.
Dhoni and Morkel kept the runs coming, donning the attacking role during the end overs. Morkel finished off the run uprising in style with two sixers and a four in the final over taking Chennai to a formidable score of 188/3.
With an up-hill task in hand, KKR Skipper Brendon McCullum started off aggressively, with boundaries and sixers flowing freely off his bat. His hard hitting ensured that KKR's run-rate was on par with Chennai. However, Sourav Ganguly on the other hand, was looking like a fish out of the water, struggling to put bat to ball. His depression came to an end when he dragged a Muralitharan delivery back on to the stumps. McCullum was in no temper to give up. He reserved the shots coming and went on to register the fastest fifty in the IPL, taking just 21 balls to get 50. Hodge played the perfect side-kick as the duo closed in on the required target.
Just when things going right for Kolkata Knight Rider, Skipper Brendon McCullum's blazing innings came to an end. The Knight Riders skipper missed out on a well deserved century after receiving out to Jakati on 81 off just 46 balls. His innings included 11 fours and 3 sixes. More drama was to follow when David Hussey was run-out in the 16th over with KKR requiring 56 runs to win. Brad Hodge took over and he never let the drive slip away. He took a leaf out of McCullum's innings and led the path for Kolkata. He went on to score a well made fifty during the process. With well support from Saha, Hodge took it to the last over requiring 6 runs to win. Raina was picked by Dhoni to bowl the final over. However he could not do much as Hodge and Saha held their nerves and took Kolkata to a well deserved victory. Hodge remained unbeaten 71 off just 44 balls. His innings included 4 fours and 4 sixers.
Man of the match: Brad Hodge
In the nonappearance of Matthew Hayden, George Bailey joined Parthiv Patel at the opening. The pair took Chennai off to a quick start, not letting the Kolkata bowlers to settle down. They took advantage of the powerplay, scoring at a run-rate of 9 per over, while KKR continued with their sorry effort in the fielding sector. The Knight Riders finally got the break when a pointed throw from Shukla found Parthiv Patel short of the crease, bringing the 59 run partnership to an end. Things slowed down for Chennai after Parthiv's dismissal. Kolkata hooked things back with the spinners bowled in racing bike. The pressure resulted in one more wicket when George Bailey was run-out thanks to one more direct hit by Shukla.Raina and Dhoni got together and took over the duty of taking Chennai to a good total. Singles and twos along with usual boundaries was the feature of their partnership. Kolkata's fielding got from bad to worse when Murali Karthik put down a simple chance offered by MS Dhoni in the 14th over, much to the anger of Agarkar. Raina and Dhoni maintained a good run-rate while entering the bereavement overs. Raina was the first to step on the accelerator, scoring successive sixers off Mendis in the 16th over. Raina went on to score his fifty with a six off Dinda. However his innings came to an end just after that when he holed out to Shukla, who looked to be the only fielder in the Knight Riders camp capable of taking the catch.
Dhoni and Morkel kept the runs coming, donning the attacking role during the end overs. Morkel finished off the run uprising in style with two sixers and a four in the final over taking Chennai to a formidable score of 188/3.With an up-hill task in hand, KKR Skipper Brendon McCullum started off aggressively, with boundaries and sixers flowing freely off his bat. His hard hitting ensured that KKR's run-rate was on par with Chennai. However, Sourav Ganguly on the other hand, was looking like a fish out of the water, struggling to put bat to ball. His depression came to an end when he dragged a Muralitharan delivery back on to the stumps. McCullum was in no temper to give up. He reserved the shots coming and went on to register the fastest fifty in the IPL, taking just 21 balls to get 50. Hodge played the perfect side-kick as the duo closed in on the required target.
Just when things going right for Kolkata Knight Rider, Skipper Brendon McCullum's blazing innings came to an end. The Knight Riders skipper missed out on a well deserved century after receiving out to Jakati on 81 off just 46 balls. His innings included 11 fours and 3 sixes. More drama was to follow when David Hussey was run-out in the 16th over with KKR requiring 56 runs to win. Brad Hodge took over and he never let the drive slip away. He took a leaf out of McCullum's innings and led the path for Kolkata. He went on to score a well made fifty during the process. With well support from Saha, Hodge took it to the last over requiring 6 runs to win. Raina was picked by Dhoni to bowl the final over. However he could not do much as Hodge and Saha held their nerves and took Kolkata to a well deserved victory. Hodge remained unbeaten 71 off just 44 balls. His innings included 4 fours and 4 sixers.Man of the match: Brad Hodge
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