KKR beat CSK to win maiden Indian Premier League title

TNN

New Delhi, 27 May 2012: Manvinder Bisla (89) and Jacques Kallis (69) helped Kolkata Knight Riders beat Chennai Super Kings by 5 wickets to win their maiden Indian Premier League title at MA Chidambaram stadium on Sunday.

 

Manoj Tiwary (9 not out) hit the winning boundary off Dwayne Bravo as Kolkata completed the massive chase with two balls to spare.

 

After losing four quick wickets in the latter stage of the chase, Kolkata looked nervous but Shakib Al Hasan (11) and Tiwary hold their nerves to pull off the thrilling victory.

 

Chasing 191-run target, Kolkata lost Bisla after he added 136-run stand with Kallis to lead the run chase against Chennai.

 

Kallis raced to fifty off 39 balls soon after Bisla fell on the other end.

 

Albie Morkel struck in the fifteenth over to dismiss Bisla to give Chennai a crucial breakthrough and break the dangerous second wicket partnership.

 

Bisla hit five sixes and eight boundaries in his 48-ball blitzkrieg.

 

After losing skipper Gautam Gambhir (2) early, Bisla slammed 27-ball fifty to resurrect Kolkata chase.

 

Bisla put on quick 100-run stand with Jacques Kallis as they took Kolkata over 100 runs in just 9.5 overs.

 

Chasing 191-run target, Kolkata lost skipper Gautam Gambhir (2) early in the first over against Chennai.

 

Pacer Ben Hilfenhaus struck in the first over to give Chennai an early breakthrough and reduced Kolkata to 3/1.

 

Electing to bat, Suresh Raina (73) and Michael Hussey (54) helped defending champions Chennai set 191-run target for Kolkata.

 

Raina played a mercurial 38-ball knock as he smacked five huge sixes and three boundaries and also added rapid 30 runs with skipper MS Dhoni (14 not out) in final three overs.

 

Dhoni hit two boundaries in his 9-ball innings.

 

Shakib Al Hasan dismissed Raina with the final ball but it turned out to be too little too late.

 

Chennai lost Michael Hussey (54) soon after Raina slammed 27-ball fifty to lead their innings against Kolkata.

 

Birthday boy Hussey smashed two huge sixes and four fours and raced to fifty in just 38 balls. Hussey also added 73-run second wicket stand with mercurial Raina.

 

Chennai lost Murali Vijay (42) after he added a quick 87-run opening stand with Hussey.

 

Centurion in last match, Vijay played another aggressive innings as he scored 42 off 32 balls which included a six and four boundaries before Rajat Bhatia got better of him in the eleventh over.

 

Bhatia gave Kolkata the crucial breakthrough and reduced Chennai to 87/1 in 10.2 overs.

 

Chennai openers changed gear after a cautious start as they took Chennai to 50 runs without any loss in just 5.5 overs.

 

Earlier, Chennai skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni won the toss and decided to bat against Kolkata.

 

"Pitch has a bit more grass roots into it, depends on how much they have rolled it, I don’t think it should spin much. We were quite consistent during the league stage, we won one and lost one," MS Dhoni said after winning the toss.

 

Chennai are playing the same eleven, which crushed Delhi Daredevils in the Qualifier 2, for the match.

 

For Knight Riders, Brett Lee replaces Brendon McCullum whereas Manvinder Bisla comes in for injured L Balaji.

 

Teams:

Chennai Super Kings: Mahendra Singh Dhoni (capt/wk), Michael Hussey, Murali Vijay, Suresh Raina, Ravindra Jadeja, Dwayne Bravo, Albie Morkel, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ben Hilfenhaus, Shadab Jakati, Subramaniam Badrinath.

 

Kolkata Knight Riders: Gautam Gambhir (capt), Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Manoj Tiwary, Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Rajat Bhatia, Sunil Narine, Brett Lee, Iqbal Abdulla, Manvinder Bisla (wk), Shakib Al Hasan.