Chennai Super Kings 160-5 (Michael Hussey 56, Murali Vijay 36, Sunil Narine 2-14) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 158-6 (Gautam Gambhir 62, Brendon McCullum 37, Shadab Jakati 2-26) by five wickets.
A solid opening stand of 97 runs between Michael Hussey and Murali Vijay let down Kolkata Knight Riders as Chennai Super Kings clinched the match on the last ball.
Kolkata Knight Riders scored 158 for the loss of six wickets in the assigned 20 overs and Chennai Super Kings achieved the target by plundering 160 runs with five wickets in hand.
Michael Hussey (Chennai Super Kings) was declared ‘Player of the match for his intelligent knock of 56 off 39 balls while opening the innings.
The 63rd match of the Indian Premier League was played on Monday, May 14, 2012 at Eden Gardens, Kolkata.
Earlier, MS Dhoni, the captain of Chennai Super Kings, won the toss and opted to chase the target. Kolkata Knight started off well as their openers, the skipper Gautam Gambhir and the hard hitting Brendon McCullum provided them a rising start. The first three overs produced 21 runs as Gambhir opened up in the fourth over with a six and McCullum assisted him with a four. Gambhir accumulated 17 runs in the next two overs with a couple of fours and a six.
They carried on with the attack as the boundaries flourished very often and Gautam Gambhir scored his fifty on the first ball of the 9th over with a single. The first wicket partnership lasted until they put on board 99 runs in 11.3 overs as Brendon McCullum was unluckily run out for 37 off 29 with one six and four fours. Gambhir was bowled by Shadab Jakati after the addition of just one run in the total at his individual score of 62 off 43 deliveries with 3 lofty sixes and 6 fours.
The wickets kept on sliding at regular intervals after that as Debabrata Das gave some resistance by contributing unbeaten 19 runs off 10 balls with one six and two fours. Kolkata Knight Riders managed 158 runs with four wickets in hand at the end of the 20th over.
Shadab Jakati was the top wicket taker with two whereas Ben Hilfenhaus, Ravichandran Ashwin and Ravindra Jadeja claimed one wicket each.
Chennai Super Kings initiated the innings with the seasoned Michael Hussey and the talented Murali Vijay. They sparkled in the second over off Lakshmipathy Balaji by dispatching 25 runs which comprised a couple of sixes and three fours. The first five overs produced 51 runs and both batsmen were enjoying in the centre with their timely stroke play. Gambhir applied six bowlers to dislodge the partnership but remained unsuccessful until the score was enhanced to 97 in 10.2 overs.
Hussy became the first victim when he was caught by Rajat Bhatia off Sunil Narine for 56 off 39 balls with 4 huge sixes and even fours. Murali Vijay followed him two balls later without any addition in the total for 36 off 25 deliveries with 1 six and 5 fours. The bowlers of Kolkata Knight Riders struck back after that and put the Chennai Super Kings in the corner at 127-4 with the consumption of 17.1 overs.
Chennai Super Kings required 27 runs to win the match in 12 balls with six wickets in hand as MS Dhoni blasted 17 runs in the 19th over with one six and two fours. The target was minimised to 9 in the last over which was bowled by Bhatia as Dwayne Bravo got a single on the first ball. Dhoni was clean bowled on the next ball for 28 off 21 deliveries with one six and three fours.
Ravindra Jadeja scored two runs on the third ball and a single on the next when Bhatia bowled the fifth ball as a dot. Chennai Super Kings needed five runs on the final ball which was dispatched for a six over long on and the match was grasped by five wickets on the last ball of the innings after a thrilling encounter.
Sunil Narine and Rajat Bhatia were the only successful bowlers with two wickets each as no other bowler was able to impress.
Points achieved by both teams after the end of the 63rd match of the IPL 2012:
Kolkata Knight Riders – 17 from 14 games at a net run rate of +0.390.
Chennai Super Kings – 17 from 15 games at a net run rate of +0.214.
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