Dhoni-led CSK beat Kolkata narrowly

CSK made three changes to their playing eleven – the Aussies (Matthew Hayden and Doug Bollinger) and Muttiah Muralitharan made way for the New Zealanders (Scott Styris and Tim Southee) and Suraj Randiv.

KKR made ten changes to their playing eleven – Sourav Ganguly, Brendon McCullum, David Hussey, Angelo Mathews, Cheteshwar Pujara, Wriddhiman Saha, Jaydev Unadkat, Murali Kartik, Ashok Dinda and Shane Bond made way for Manvinder Bisla, Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Eoin Morgan, Gautam Gambhir (who was leading the team), Laxmi Ratan Shukla, Rajat Bhatia, Iqbal Abdulla, Lakshmipathy Balaji and Sarabjit Ladda.

On winning the toss, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, CSK’s skipper, chose to bat.

The first Powerplay of CSK’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 41, and lost a wicket.

Murali Vijay, who faced four balls, scored as many. His runs came by way of a boundary. An over into the match, he was caught by Bhatia. Abdulla broke the five-run stand.

CSK scored 50 off 6.3 overs (39 balls). KKR had conceded a couple of extras at that point.

The second-wicket pair put on 50 off 36 balls. While the contribution of Anirudha, the player of the match, to the partnership waS(rikkan)thirty-one, Suresh Raina’s contribution to it was 19. Extras’ contribution to the partnership was a couple.

Raina, whose 29-ball innings included four boundaries, eventually scored 33. Fifty-seven balls after Vijay’s dismissal, he was caught by Ladda. Pathan broke the 75-run partnership.

CSK scored 100 off 14.2 overs (86 balls). KKR had conceded three extras at that point. That was, incidentally, the number of extras they eventually conceded.

Anirudha’s half-century – which included half-a-dozen boundaries and a six – came off 43 balls.

Dhoni, whose 21-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 29. Forty-one balls after Raina’s dismissal, he was caught by Bisla. Kallis broke the 49-run stand.

Anirudha, whose 55-ball innings included half-a-dozen boundaries and a couple of sixes, eventually scored 64. A dozen balls later, Kallis broke the nine-run stand.

Albie Morkel, whose nine-ball innings included a boundary and a six, scored 15. He was unbeaten, as was Styris, who scored five. His two-ball innings included a boundary.

CSK scored 150 off 20 overs (120 balls). In fact, they eventually scored 153 for the loss of four wickets.

Ladda and Bhatia bowled three wicketless overs apiece. While the former conceded 29, the latter conceded 19.

Balaji, who bowled four wicketless overs, conceded 25.

Pathan, who bowled three overs, conceded 19. He picked up a wicket, as did Abdulla, who bowled four overs, conceding 26.

Kallis, who bowled three overs, conceded 34. He picked up a couple of scalps.

The first Powerplay of KKR’s innings – which was the mandatory Powerplay – was between the first and the sixth over. They scored 52, without the loss of a wicket.

KKR’s openers put on 50 off 5.3 overs (33 balls). CSK had conceded half-a-dozen extras at that point. While Bisla’s contribution to the partnership was 19, Kallis’ contribution to it was 25.

Bisla, whose 29-ball innings included three boundaries, eventually scored 27. Fifty-three balls into the chase, he was stumped by Dhoni. Shadab Jakati broke the 64-run partnership.

Kallis’ half-century – which included seven boundaries – came off 37 balls.

The second-wicket pair put on 29. Pathan, whose 12-ball innings included a six, scored 11. Twenty-four balls after Bisla’s dismissal, Dhoni ran him out.

KKR scored 100 off 13.5 overs (83 balls). CSK had conceded half-a-dozen extras at that point.

Kallis, who faced 42-ball innings included seven boundaries, eventually scored 54. Fifteen balls after Pathan’s dismissal, he was caught by Subramaniam Badrinath. Ravichandran Ashwin broke the 19-run stand.

Morgan, whose run-a-ball innings included a boundary, scored half-a-dozen. Seven balls later, he was stumped by Dhoni. Raina broke the run-a-ball stand.

The fifth-wicket pair put on a run. Gambhir, who faced a couple of balls, scored a run. A couple of balls later, Styris ran him out.

Manoj Tiwary, whose 27-ball innings included a boundary and a couple of sixes, scored 27. Seven balls later, he was stumped by Dhoni. Randiv broke the 25-run stand.

Shukla, whose 10-ball innings included a couple of boundaries, scored 14. A couple of balls later, he was caught by Styris. Southee broke the run-a-ball stand.   

KKR scored 150 off 19.5 overs (119 balls). The number of extras they had conceded at that point gave CSK no reason to be in seventh heaven.

Bhatia, who faced a ball, failed to get off the mark. He was unbeaten, as was Abdulla, who faced three balls, scoring as many.

CSK eventually conceded eight extras. KKR, who scored 151 for the loss of seven wickets off 20 overs, lost by two runs.

Morkel, who bowled three wicketless overs, conceded 32.

Raina, who bowled an over, conceded a run. He picked up a wicket, as did Randiv, Southee, Ashwin and Jakati, who bowled four overs apiece. They conceded 33, 30, 26, and 26, respectively.