The Hindu : Sport : Super Kings fells Knight Riders

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Super Kings fells Knight Riders

S. Dinakar

Matthew Hayden ensures an easy victory for the Chennai team

— Photo: K. Pichumani

INNOVATIVE STROKE: L.R. Shukla, the top-scorer for Kolkata Knight Riders, picks this one from outside the off-stump to dispatch it to the fine-leg fence.

Chennai: He wiped sweat off his brow, gulped down swigs of water and proceeded to dismiss the bowling ruthlessly. All along, his focus never deserted him.

The Man Mountain continues to make a mountain of runs. Matthew Hayden’s unbeaten 49-ball 70 ensured there would be no hiccups for Chennai Super Kings while pursuing 148 for a third straight win in the DLF-Indian Premier League.

Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni ended the unexpected mismatch — the host romped home by nine wickets — with a six over mid-wicket off left-arm spinner Murali Kartik to a huge roar from a sell-out crowd at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday.

Twin strikes

The turning point of the duel arrived much earlier when Man-of-the-Match Jacob Oram dismissed the in-form Brendon McCullum and Ricky Ponting off successive deliveries. Then, Muttiah Muralitharan sent down a mesmerising spell of craft and variety.

A total of 147 was never going to be enough for Knight Riders, which opted to bat, on a surface which favoured the batsmen. The team from Kolkata suffered its first defeat in three matches.

Hayden (6x4, 3x6) was calm and assured, seeing off Ishant Sharma’s lively opening spell and then wading into the bowling. His driving through the off side, off either foot, was glorious.

The manner in which he created room reflected his ability to improvise. When Ishant returned — this was Sourav Ganguly’s last fling of the dice — he struck the paceman sweetly over his head for the stroke of the innings. What separates Hayden from the other batsmen is his balance, both, in his initial movement and execution.

Sound start

The much shorter Parthiv Patel — his presence with Hayden forced the bowlers to alter their length — essayed a few crisp strokes square off the wicket as the opening pair put on 66 runs in 51 balls.

Knight Riders had made early inroads in the previous games. This time, it ran into a left-handed road-block.

— PHOTO: M. VEDHAN

THREE IN A ROW: Matthew Hayden (left) and Jacob Oram, the architects of Chennai Super Kings’ third successive win in the Indian Premier League (IPL), share a lighter moment with captain M.S. Dhoni and star ambassador Vijay at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium on Saturday. Hayden’s unbeaten half-century powered Chennai to a nine-wicket win after Oram, with figures of three for 32, had helped restrict Kolkata Knight Riders to 147 for nine.

Dhoni promoted himself in the order, possibly to have a left-right combination in the middle. The Super Kings skipper was fluent, whipping wristy flicks and drives, lofting the ball high and long to the on-side. There was going to be only one winner in the contest.

Earlier, McCullum, predictably, blitzed at the beginning. A batsman with quick foot-work and rapier-like strokes, he took off like a sprinter off the blocks.

If speed and tempo underline McCullum’s batting, Oram’s bowling is hardly about velocity.

On occasions when Oram stretched for pace, he was punished. But when the big-built man focussed on length and direction, he was rewarded. McCullum unleashed a ferocious pull for a six, then attempted to play a straighter and fuller delivery across the line and the leading edge was gleefully accepted.

Ponting walked in to a rousing reception but departed before the cheering had died down. Oram landed one on a length and Ponting, attempting a drive on the up, holed out to covers. Oram now had two wickets in successive balls and Super Kings was full of beans.

Attacking bowler

Muralitharan did not make life any easier for the batsmen. The off-spinning legend got the ball to spin both ways, straightened it, and brought about subtle changes in length and trajectory.

The constraints of Twenty20 cricket have not limited his approach to bowling. He is still an attacking bowler who dares the batsmen and backs himself. With a mind that is ticking, he keeps the batsmen guessing.

The fact that Muralitharan delivers the ball late works to his advantage in the game’s shortest version since he is able to spot the batsman’s initial movement.

To his credit, Muralitharan forced Ganguly to be circumspect. Ganguly, eventually, was picked up at point off medium-pacer Joginder Sharma.

Super Kings prevented Knight Riders from building partnerships. Wriddhiman Saha sparkled briefly before Manpreet Goni nipped one back. Palani Amarnath consumed David Hussey on the cut and was steady in spells. Mohammad Hafeez was just getting into his stride when he was well held at short fine-leg by Joginder off Amarnath.

Laxmi Ratan Shukla alone offered some fight with a 33-ball 42 that took Knight Riders close to 150.

Once again, Dhoni managed the overs well, displaying faith in his front-line bowlers.

The fielding backed the bowling — Suresh Raina and S. Badrinath were particularly sharp.

Super Kings was rocking at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium.

The scores:

Kolkata Knight Riders: S. Ganguly c Badrinath b Joginder 12, B. McCullum c Raina b Oram 24, R. Ponting c Raina b Oram 0, W. Saha b Goni 27, D. Hussey c Badrinath b Amarnath 0, M. Hafeez c Joginder b Amarnath 16, L.R. Shukla (run out) 42, A. Agarkar c Muralitharan b Goni 11, M. Kartik c & b Oram 3, I. Sharma (not out) 4, A. Dinda (not out) 0; Extras (lb-2, w-4, nb-2): 8; Total (for nine wkts. in 20 overs): 147.

Fall of wickets: 1-32, 2-32, 3-61, 4-64, 5-70, 6-98, 7-121, 8-127, 9-145.

Chennai Super Kings bowling: Oram 4-0-32-3, Goni 4-0-40-2, Amarnath 4-0-29-2, Muralitharan 4-0-12-0, Joginder 4-0-32-1.

Chennai Super Kings: P. Patel c Ishant b Agarkar 21, M. Hayden (not out) 70, M. Dhoni (not out) 43; Extras (b-1, lb-4, w-12, nb-1): 18; Total (for one wkt. in 17 overs): 152.

Fall of wicket: 1-66.

Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Dinda 3-0-25-0, Ishant 3-0-26-0, Agarkar 3-0-19-1, D. Hussey 1-0-10-0, Hafeez 2-0-16-0, Kartik 3-0-33-0, Shukla 2-0-18-0.

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