Hussey, Morris defeat Kolkata Knight Riders

Chennai Super Kings 200 for 3 (Hussey 95, Raina 44) beat Kolkata Knight Riders 186 for 4 (Bisla 92) by 14 runs

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Michael Hussey inflicted a run-out in the 19th over and that was followed by a brilliant last over from Chris Morris, which eventually sealed the game for the Chennai Super Kings. Yet again, Bisla kept the Knight Riders in the hunt with a splendid innings of 92, but his run-out in the 19th over had an impact as Morgan and Yusuf found it extremely difficult to clear the fence off Chris Morris. Bravo also bowled a good penultimate over as he was spot on with his line and length and conceded just 10 runs to turn the heat on the Knight Riders.

Kolkata shouldn’t have got much closer to the target as Nannes first over, that cost 18 runs, geared KKR for the run-chase. The conditions were hot and humid and consequently, Nannes was not in control with his length. MS Dhoni brought Chris Morris in the third over of the match and consequently, he was awarded with the wicket of Gambhir. Chennai let partnerships blossom as Knight Riders had two outstanding partnerships that helped them inch closer towards the massive score of 200 runs on a dry surface at Chepauk.

Mahendra Singh Dhoni should have brought in Ashwin early in the innings to curb the run-flow following the wicket of Brendon McCullum. Instead he brought Ashwin in the 10th over of the match when Bisla and Kallis were thoroughly dominating the chase. They were bowling too many full tosses that Kallis and Bisla typically exploited. Ashwin was constantly tossing the ball to Bisla and consequently, he was clobbered over deep midwicket all the time.

Dwayne Bravo was asked to bowl his four overs at the death of the innings. When the Knight Riders were cursing along nicely, Bravo grabbed the wicket of Kallis to keep Chennai Super Kings in hunt. Eoin Morgan, who batted brilliantly against Kings XI, had significant task at hand with the required rate in excess of 13.00 runs per over. He did the right job as he kept rotating the strike and Bisla was the one who took the attack to Chennai Super Kings bowlers.

MS Dhoni kept his cool and shuffled his fielders around. At the end of 16th over, many would have hoped for an easy win for the Super Kings as they had KKR on the ropes at 132/3, with 69 runs needed off 24 balls. Bravo’s horror 17th over and Nannes bad 18th over brought KKR back into the contest. But the run-out of Bisla in the 19th over completely changed the course of the match and Chris Morris bowled a brilliant last over as he conceded only four runs – one of the best over from Morris.

Everybody wondered when Gambhir chose to bowl on a hot sunny day. Saha and Hussey exploited the conditions and as the Super Kings rose to 103/0 in just 10 overs. The wicket of Saha in 11th over did not affect the scoring rate as Raina and Hussey were scoring at a brisk rate. MS Dhoni later clobbered the KKR bowlers together with Suresh Raina as Chennai posted an imposing score of 200 runs. Knight Riders had the firepower to chase, but not against the Chennai Super Kings.