Chennai Super Kings continued with their dominance as they defeated Kolkata Knight Riders for the second time in the IPL-6. Chasing a huge total of 201 wasn’t easy and some fine bowling from Mohit Sharma at the start of the innings made it look much more difficult for Kolkata. But brilliant efforts from Manvinder Bisla and Eoin Morgan kept them in chase till the penultimate over.

Here we bring to you the hits and flops from the match between Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) and Chennai Super Kings (CSK).

HITS
 

Mike Hussey: Hussey once again ousted the opposition with his incredible batting, as he scored 11 crisp boundaries and two sixes in his knock of 95 runs. His ability to bat till the death overs makes him a great asset for CSK. His partnership of 103 runs with Wriddhiman Shah made it quite easy for CSK to post a total of 200 runs on the board.

Manvinder Bisla: Bisla fought till the end of the KKR’s innings and always kept his team in hunt for winning this match. He kept on scoring boundaries in every over to keep the hopes alive and was showing some brilliant temperament in his knock of 92 runs. He was like a one man army whom CSK find very difficult to stop. He kept the price on his wicket and KKR’s success in IPL 6 will depend much on his form.

Wriddhiman Shah: Shah played his first match of IPL-6 and did some fine job with the bat as he contributed 39 runs off 23 balls. He played some very good straight shots and was taking the pressure off Hussey who was trying to keep the tempo going for CSK. In case Murali Vijay doesn’t fire, he seems to be a best bet for CSK.

Suresh Raina: Raina finally showed his game against KKR as he scored 44 runs off just 25 balls. He was looking in great touch as he scored four fours and one six in his crucial knock. His ability to shift his gear just after playing few balls made the significant difference as he kept smashing the bowlers in death overs.

Eoin Morgan: Morgan was once again looking in brilliant touch with the bat as he scored 32 off just 22 balls. He had a tough time in the middle in the final over of the match as he had to score 19 runs to get KKR over the line and some brilliant bowling by Chris Morris made it more difficult.

Mohit Sharma: Sharma once again proved to be the best bowler in yellow jersey as he bowled brilliantly and gave away 23 runs in his four overs. He picked up the big wicket of Brendon McCullum and gave CSK a much needed breakthrough in the initial stage of their bowling.

FLOPS

Jacques Kallis: Kallis was having a bad day as he went for 50 runs in his four overs and turned out to be the worst bowler of the day. Apart from that his slow and sluggish knock of 19 runs off 20 balls cost KKR this match.

Lakshmipathy Balaji: Balaji was in his worst form possible. He went wicket-less after bowling four overs and gave away 45 runs. He hasn’t been in good form in this season of IPL for sure.

Dirk Nannes: Nannes had a terrible day as he leaked 18 runs in his first over itself which gave KKR a much needed start in this high-voltage drama. His inability to find a line and length throughout the match cost him 50 runs. He should be looking for picking up wickets rather than simply containing the batsmen in death overs.

Dwayne Bravo: Bravo got smacked for plenty in his last three overs and he ended up with the figures of 1/37 in his four overs. He was decimated by Manvinder Bisla and Eoin Morgan all over the ground.

Shami Ahmed: Ahmed did no good to KKR and went for 20 runs in just 2 overs. His immaturity reflected when he came into bowl the second over. After getting smacked for back to back boundaries on length deliveries he carried on doing the same and went for a six and ended up giving 15 runs in that overs.

Brendon McCullum: McCullum couldn’t contribute much with the bat as he departed after scoring just six runs off seven balls. Expecting him to start exploding from the first match that would be unfair but in a situation like this, he should have made sure to stay at the crease and that would have made some difference. But a better performance is expected from him when KKR take on Delhi Daredevils at Raipur.

By Amit Chopra
Indian Sports News Network