IPL 8: Chennai Dwayne, KKR wane

Dwayne Smith’s first attacking shot was agricultural, a top-edge swish over the slip cordon for four. To his credit, the Chennai Super Kings opener had slashed hard to a wide one from Pat Cummins, who got his first game of this IPL at the expense of Morne Morkel.

Scorecard: CSK vs KKR

Brendon McCullum, on the other hand, attempted a deliberate ramp off Umesh Yadav that flew straight towards third man. A more agile fielder than Yusuf Pathan would have had the catch. McCullum got a boundary instead.

Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir had opted to bowl first on a slow pitch that had cracks aplenty. The ball wasn’t coming on to the bat, so McCullum decided to charge down the wicket and dispatch Cummins over the straight boundary. Then he clipped a yorker behind square for four.

Smith was dealing in top edges. He got a six over third man and followed it up with another edge that bisected the keeper and first slip. All said and done, Chennai had a good start with 38/0 after four overs.

From Kolkata’s point of view, it was imperative to separate the most destructive opening pair of the tournament. Gambhir resorted to spin.

Piyush Chawla lured McCullum with flight and beat him in the air. The latter used his reach to smack it over the bowler’s head. Chawla’s response was a googly that turned sharply and caught McCullum plumb in front. Strangulation ensued.

The choke

Suresh Raina started off with a six off Chawla, but Gambhir had read the pitch very well. And as the ball got older, he called up Brad Hogg. With Sunil Narine’s test reports still not ready, KKR didn’t risk their ‘mystery’ spinner. Hogg played, and at 44 years of age, became the oldest cricketer in the history of the IPL. The Aussie chainaman bowler rolled back the years.

Hogg bowled an impeccable line and cramped the batters room. He troubled Raina and teased Smith. Pressure was building and Smith gave into it – a bad call and a needless run out.

Andre Russell worked up decent pace at the other end and accounted for Raina. Then he got rid of MS Dhoni with a bouncer. Chawla fooled Dwayne Bravo with flight as Suryakumar Yadav at long-off accepted a sitter. From 42/0, Chennai slumped to 88/5 inside nine overs.

Faf du Plessis and Ravindra Jadeja put on a 36-run sixth wicket partnership, but they were struggling to up the ante. Gambhir used his bowlers shrewdly and they showed fantastic discipline.

Du Plessis finally hit a four off Hogg to break the boundary drought but the old man responded with sneaking one through Jadeja’s defence. Two loose deliveries from Yadav in the final over helped Chennai reach 134. Kolkata had put in a choke-hold.

Masterclass in captaincy

Russell was livid as he fell prey to a Jadeja throw from deep square. He was halfway down the track for a second run, but Ryan ten Doeschate was never interested. An asking rate of over 10 runs per over took its toll. Russell was Kolkata’s best bet against a steep climb. He was out for four and Chennai all but had the match.

They rallied brilliantly to pull this one off. Dhoni’s captaincy was superb. Robin Uthappa was going great guns after Gambhir was out in the first over of the chase, nibbling at an away-goer from Ishwar Pandey to the keeper. Three consecutive fours off Mohit Sharma in the fourth over from Uthappa and the visitors were galloping. 52/1 after five overs and it was Kolkata’s game to lose.

Dhoni didn’t bat an eyelid. He brought in Ravichandran Ashwin. KKR’s opener Uthappa was out in the first ball, hitting a short one straight to McCullum at short mid-wicket. There was a window and Dhoni sensed victory.

From that point onwards, it was T20 captaincy at its best – the field settings to Ashwin and Jadeja, use of Raina as a back-up spinner, bringing back medium pace when asking rate was creeping up and holding back Man of the Match Bravo for the death overs.

The plan was simple; cut down the boundaries and the opponents would panic. Dhoni’s boys responded magnificently to his command.

Ashwin was outstanding with 2/5 in two overs before a split finger forced him to leave the field. Dhoni, once again, was impassive. Jadeja and Raina didn’t get wickets but kept the batters on a tight leash. Bravo came to bowl after 16 overs and finished with three wickets.

Fielding was top-class. McCullum was electric inside the circle. Bravo took a stunner at long-on to dismiss Surya Yadav. His wicket prompted a slide. From 76/3 after 12 overs, Kolkata were down to 105/8 after 18. Ten Doeschate played a lone hand in the end, taking a four and a six off Nehra in the penultimate over and hitting two fours and a six in the final over bowled by Bravo.

Still, Kolkata finished two runs short.Chennai won because their captain didn’t throw in the towel on the face of an early onslaught.