The Hindu : Sport : Makhaya Ntini performs a hat-trick

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Makhaya Ntini performs a hat-trick

S. Sabanayakan

Super Kings wins by Duckworth-Lewis method after interruptions

Super Kings now has 14 points
Knight Riders is on 10 points

Photo: Arunangsu Roy Chowdhury

GOT HIS MAN: Makhaya Ntini bowled Sourav Ganguly off the last ball of his first spell and returned to bowl Debabrata Das and David Hussey off the first two balls of his second spell. —

KOLKATA: Chennai Super Kings won the DLF-IPL Twenty20 match by three runs against Kolkata Knight Riders as per the Duckworth-Lewis method after play was halted first by the failure of some lights in the floodlight towers and later by a Nor’wester that lashed the stadium.

At the time of the stoppage, Super Kings had replied with 55 for no loss in eight overs chasing Knight Riders’ 149 for five in 20 overs.

As per the D/L method, Super Kings needed to score 52 in eight overs.

The Super Kings openers, Stephen Fleming and Parthiv Patel, negotiated the famed Knight Riders’ pace attack of Shoaib Akhtar and Ishant Sharma with aplomb.

Steady stream

The two left-handers played with such authority that runs came in a steady stream.

By the end of the fourth over the duo had amassed 30 runs and by the end of the power play it was 43 for no loss. Fleming was fluent in his strokeplay, once even pulling Akhtar to square-leg for a four.

The only blemish came in the eighth over when Parthiv was dropped by Ashok Dinda at backward square-leg while pulling Ajit Agarkar. But for it, the 55 runs the two added in eight overs was as authoritative as it was pleasing.

The win was the seventh for Super Kings, enhancing its chances of a semifinal spot, while Knight Riders lost its sixth match.

Earlier, Knight Riders won the toss and decided to bat on a pitch which looked a bit dry. Searching for a successful opening pair in its 11th match, the home side sent in Salman Butt and Mohammad Hafeez — seventh pair — and still found the new combination short of expectation. Hafeez was the first to leave taken by Manpreet Singh Gony at fine-leg off Makhaya Ntini for six. Skipper Sourav Ganguly came in next but did not last long. In trying to heave the South African pacer he got his stumps rattled.

Debabrata Das, who was drafted in for Aakash Chopra for the lone change in the Knight Riders’ side, and Butt produced the most productive partnership of the innings. Playing sensible knocks, the two added 86 runs off 67 balls for the third wicket to take the score past the 100-run mark in 15.3 overs.

Ntini’s hat-trick

When Ntini came on for his second spell of one over, in the 17th over, he tasted double success clean bowling Das (27, 32b, 1x4, 2x6) with the first ball and David Hussey (0) off the second ball to complete a hat-trick, the third in the tournament after L. Balaji and Amit Mishra of Delhi Daredevils.

Ntini had dismissed Ganguly off the last ball of his third over — team’s fifth.

Four down for 114, it was left to two local stars, Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Wriddhiman Saha, to see the team through the rest of the overs and to take the team’s total to 149 in 20 overs.

If Ntini was the best among the Chennai bowlers with a haul of four for 21, Balaji picked up the other wicket for 36 runs.

Knight Riders’ discomfiture was mainly owing to its batsmen’s inability to force the pace. When the batsmen tried to do that, it lost wickets at regular intervals.

The scores: Kolkata Knight Riders: S. Butt lbw b Balaji 73, Md. Hafeez c Gony b Ntini 6, S. Ganguly b Ntini 2, D. Das b Ntini 27, D. Hussey b Ntini 0, L.R. Shukla (not out) 13, W. Saha (not out) 15; Extras (b-2, lb-7, w-3, nb-1): 13; Total (for five wkts. in 20 overs): 149.

Fall of wickets: 1-14, 2-28, 3-114, 4-114, 5-122.

Chennai Super Kings bowling: Ntini 4-0-21-4, Gony 4-0-17-0, Muralidharan 4-0-41-0, Balaji 4-0-36-1, Morkal 4-0-25-0.

Chennai Super Kings: P. Patel (not out) 19, S. Fleming (not out) 32; Extras (lb-1, w-3): 4; Total (for no loss in eight overs): 55.

Kolkata Knight Riders bowling: Akhtar 2-0-14-0, Ishant 2-0-16-0, Dinda 2-0-10-0, Agarkar 2-0-14-0.

Chennai Super Kings won by three runs (D/L method).

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