| 0.0 : 5 games, 4 wins and 1 loss is the scenario so far, for both the sides facing off tonight. It is Chennai who will be hosting Kolkata, in a clash of the table-toppers. Both head into this game with winning momentum on their side and it is difficult to choose a favorite here. Yes, the hosts can be termed as slight favorites as they are playing in familiar conditions but they will have to be at their best to beat the visitors. A win for the home team will see them go top of the table, whereas, a win |
| PITCH REPORT - Laxman Sivaramakrishnan is doing the pitch report and states that this pitch would be bowler friendly. Adds that it will turn and assist the spinners like it has been for most of this season. Further states that the surface looks dry with no moisture and the track isn't really that hard. Reckons that the ball will come slow off the wicket. Ends by saying that it would be better to chase as dew will be a big factor later in the night. |
| TOSS - Chennai win the toss and elect to bowl! |
| MS Dhoni says they will bowl first because of the dew factor at this venue. States that data and analytics play a vital part in match preparation, but it's also important to remember to stick to your own strengths. Informs that there are no changes to his side from the previous game. |
| Dinesh Karthik says he too wanted to bowl first as he thinks there will be dew, but no option now but to put runs on the board first up. Adds that bowling with the wet ball is a difficult skill to master, but they will have to try their best. Ends by saying that they too are unchanged. |
| Chennai XI (Unchanged) - Shane Watson, Faf du Plessis, Suresh Raina, Ambati Rayudu, MS Dhoni (WK/C), Kedar Jadhav, Ravindra Jadeja, Scott Kuggeleijn, Deepak Chahar, Harbhajan Singh, Imran Tahir. |
| Kolkata XI (Also unchanged) - Chris Lynn, Sunil Narine, Robin Uthappa, Nitish Rana, Dinesh Karthik (WK/C), Shubman Gill, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Harry Gurney, Prasidh Krishna. |
| We are all set to begin. The players and umpires are out in the middle. Chris Lynn and Sunil Narine will open the batting for Kolkata. Deepak Chahar to take the ball first up for the hosts. A slip in place for him. Here we go... |
| 0.1 : D Chahar to C Lynn, A fuller length delivery on middle and leg, moving away slightly, Lynn clips this straight to the man at short fine leg. |
| 0.2 : D Chahar to C Lynn, A little too straight in line, on middle and leg, Lynn tries to work it across the line but is caught on the pads. Thinks about taking the run, but then decides to abort as the bowler gets to it fast. |
| 0.3 : D Chahar to C Lynn, Swing and a miss! Three dots in a row. Back of a length with a hint of shape away, around off, Chris Lynn looks to heave it over the leg side but misses. |
| 0.4 : D Chahar to C Lynn, First run of the evening. Once again it's on middle and leg, a length ball, Lynn works it off the pads on the leg side. The batsmen this time cross over to complete a leg bye. |
| 0.5 : D Chahar to S Narine, FOUR OVERTHROWS! A bit unfortunate, really. Can't do much about it. Narine taps this length ball towards mid-wicket and takes off. Rayudu there rushes to the ball, has a shy at the bowler's end but it goes off Narine's bat and away to the other side, all the way to the boundary. |
| 0.6 : D Chahar to C Lynn, OUT! This is a big breakthrough for Chahar and Chennai. The dangerous Chris Lynn is out of here in the very first over of the game. This length ball is landed in line of the stumps, it skids off the deck and keeps slightly low, which becomes Lynn's undoing as he looks to go big across the line. He's struck flush in the front of the stumps on the pads and a loud appeal goes up. The umpire's finger follows and that's it for the Aussie. |
| Harbhajan Singh to bowl from the other end. |
| 1.1 : H Singh to S Narine, Floated on off, Narine looks to go big but gets a bottom edge on this one. It goes towards the leg side. |
| 1.2 : H Singh to S Narine, Tossed up outside off, Narine plays it between cover and point for a single. |
| 1.3 : H Singh to R Uthappa, Flighted delivery on middle, Uthappa drives it towards mid on for a run. |
| 1.4 : H Singh to S Narine, BEATEN! Tossed up outside off, Narine makes room and looks to cut but misses it. |
| 1.5 : H Singh to S Narine, OUT! In the air... taken! Harbhajan Singh now strikes and both the openers are back in the hut inside the space of two overs. Dreadful start for the visitors. Narine continues to go after the off spinner. Steps down the track this time and looks to go over covers. The ball, however, turns a little, hits the toe-end and balloons towards the point region. Chahar from backward point and Rayudu from point are going for it. The former in the end calls for it and takes a good |
| Nitish Rana is the new batsman in. |
| 1.6 : H Singh to R Uthappa, A dot to end another successful over for the hosts. This is flatter and on off, Uthappa keeps it out. |
| 2.1 : D Chahar to N Rana, On a good length on off, Rana plays it to point. |
| 2.2 : D Chahar to N Rana, Bowls a good length delivery on off, Rana stands tall and defends it off the back foot. |
| 2.3 : D Chahar to N Rana, WIDE! Bowls it down the leg side, Rana looks to flick but misses it. |
| D Chahar to N Rana, OUT! No. 3 goes down now as Rana departs without troubling the scorers. Chahar gets his second in his second over. Another very good catch, this. It is slightly short and on middle, Rana looks to pull but it goes uppishly towards mid-wicket. Rayudu there dives forward and takes it inches above the ground. Kolkata slip further, they are in desperate need of a partnership. |
| Dinesh Karthik is the new batsman in. |
| 2.4 : D Chahar to D Karthik, A little too wide outside off, the batter lets it be. |
| 2.5 : D Chahar to D Karthik, BEATEN! A needless stroke though by Karthik. Length and outside off, DK lunges to defend a ball he could have left. Gets beaten. |
| 2.6 : D Chahar to D Karthik, Another dot to end! Just a single and a wicket from this one. Length delivery and on off, Karthik is solid in defense. |
| Ravindra Jadeja is into the attack. |
| 3.1 : R Jadeja to R Uthappa, Tossed up on off, Uthappa drives it towards mid off for a run. |
| 3.2 : R Jadeja to D Karthik, Floated on off, Karthik plays it to point. |
| 3.3 : R Jadeja to D Karthik, FOUR! EDGY! Kolkata won't mind though as they need runs at the moment. Tossed up on off, Karthik looks to defend but gets an outside edge which goes past the first slip fielder and to the third man fence. |
| 3.4 : R Jadeja to D Karthik, Flighted delivery on off, Karthik cuts it towards point for a run. |
| 3.5 : R Jadeja to R Uthappa, Full on middle, Robin drives it to mid on. |
| 3.6 : R Jadeja to R Uthappa, Full on off, Uthappa drives it towards mid off for a run. |
| 4.1 : D Chahar to R Uthappa, FOUR! Uppish but in the gap! A hit me delivery! Short and wide outside off, Uthappa stands tall and slaps it in the air but wide of the fielder at point and for a boundary. |
| 4.2 : D Chahar to R Uthappa, FOUR! Consecutive boundaries! Runs starting to come now! Slightly short again and on middle, Uthappa picks the length early and pulls it over mid-wicket. |
| 4.3 : D Chahar to R Uthappa, Another very good shot! Fuller in length and on middle, Uthappa strokes it back towards the bowler. Chahar there does well to get down and get a hand to it. Stops a run at least. |
| 4.4 : D Chahar to R Uthappa, OUT! Another one bites the dust! Uthappa is the man walking back. He falls in the trap here. There was just one man out on the leg side and Uthappa picks him out. Another short one and on middle, Uthappa goes back and looks to pull. He had no intention to keep it down. He though does not get the distance. Jadhav at deep mid-wicket takes it with ease. A body blow this for the visitors as Uthappa is a very good player of spin and they needed him to stay out there on thi |
| Shubman Gill is the new batsman in. |
| 4.5 : D Chahar to D Karthik, On a good length on middle, the skipper keeps it out. |
| 4.6 : D Chahar to D Karthik, Again on a good length on off, the skipper defends it off the front foot. 8 runs and a wicket from this over. |
| 5.1 : R Jadeja to S Gill, Tosses it up on off, Gill takes a few steps ahead and then strokes it down to long off for a single. |
| 5.2 : R Jadeja to D Karthik, That sticks in the surface. Shortish and on off, it pitches and turns away. Karthik goes back and looks to hit it through the off side but due to the slowness he had to check his shot. It goes off the bottom to covers. |
| 5.3 : R Jadeja to D Karthik, FOUR! This time, he not only cuts but also finds the gap. Short and outside off, this one skids through. Karthik goes back and slaps it past the diving cover fielder and into the fence. |
| 5.4 : R Jadeja to D Karthik, Floated on off, Karthik defends it off the front foot. |
| 5.5 : R Jadeja to D Karthik, Tossed up on middle, Dinesh defends it off the back foot. |
| 5.6 : R Jadeja to D Karthik, Full on off, the skipper drives it to covers. It has been an excellent powerplay for Chennai. Kolkata are 29/4 after 6 overs. |
| Scott Kuggeleijn is on now. |
| 6.1 : S Kuggeleijn to S Gill, On a good length on off, Gill keeps it out. |
| 6.2 : S Kuggeleijn to S Gill, Length delivery on off, Gill keeps it out. |
| 6.3 : S Kuggeleijn to S Gill, Full and outside off, Gill drives it towards mid off. The fielder goes for a direct hit at the bowler's end but misses it. The batsmen take a run. |
| 6.4 : S Kuggeleijn to D Karthik, Length delivery on middle, Karthik flicks it through square leg. The batsmen get two runs. It was well timed by the skipper. It was a poor delivery from Scott Kuggeleijn. |
| 6.5 : S Kuggeleijn to D Karthik, Scott really bent his back on that one! Bowls it slightly short and on off, this one skids through and bounces nicely on this slow surface. Karthik does well to play it by taking one hand off the handle. He defends it towards point. |
| 6.6 : S Kuggeleijn to D Karthik, On a length on middle, Karthik flicks it towards mid-wicket for a run. |
| Harbhajan Singh is back. |
| 7.1 : H Singh to D Karthik, Floated on middle, Dinesh keeps it out. |
| 7.2 : H Singh to D Karthik, Tossed up on middle, Dinesh tucks it towards the leg side for a run. |
| 7.3 : H Singh to S Gill, Flighted delivery on off, Gill defends it off the front foot. |
| 7.4 : H Singh to S Gill, Full on off, Gill drives it to mid off. |
| 7.5 : H Singh to S Gill, It was tossed up on middle, Gill flicks it towards square leg. The batsmen get two runs. |
| 7.6 : H Singh to S Gill, Harbhajan slows it on the middle stump line, Gill flicks it towards square leg for a run. Just 4 runs off the Harbhajan Singh over. |
| Imran Tahir is on now. |
| 8.1 : I Tahir to S Gill, Floated on middle stump, Gill drives it towards mid on for a run. |
| 8.2 : I Tahir to D Karthik, Full and outside off, Karthik drives it through covers. The batsmen get two runs. |
| 8.3 : I Tahir to D Karthik, FOUR! Very, very delicate this from Karthik. He plays the paddle sweep. Gets it very fine, between the legs of Dhoni and into the fine leg fence. A welcome boundary this. |
| 8.4 : I Tahir to D Karthik, OUT! Tahir gets his revenge! He sends the Kolkata skipper packing! Half the side now back in the hut for the visitors. A sharp catch by Harbhajan. Chennai have been excellent in the field today. Tahir gives this a lot more air and bowls it full on middle. Karthik whips it powerfully towards mid-wicket. Singh there does really well to take it. Timely wicket as this partnership was just starting to build nicely for the visitors. |
| Strategic break. It has been a great passage of play where Chennai have taken the crux out of the Kolkata batting. The visitors are 44/5 and are on the verge of getting bowled out under 100 runs. Andre Russell will be crucial for Kolkata and he has to come to their rescue. Andre Russell is the new batsman in. |
| 8.5 : I Tahir to A Russell, Floated on off, Russell defends it off the front foot. |
| 8.6 : I Tahir to A Russell, Outside off, Russell lets it go. 7 runs and a wicket from the over. |
| Ravindra Jadeja is back into the attack. |
| 9.1 : R Jadeja to S Gill, Short delivery on off, Gill cuts it towards point. The batsmen get two runs. |
| 9.2 : R Jadeja to S Gill, Full on off, Gill drives it towards mid off for a run. |
| 9.3 : R Jadeja to A Russell, Floated on off, Russell defends it off the back foot. |
| 9.4 : R Jadeja to A Russell, Tossed up on off, Andre defends it off the back foot. |
| 9.5 : R Jadeja to A Russell, Bowls a googly outside off, Russell looks to defend but gets beaten due to the turn on this one. |
| 9.6 : R Jadeja to A Russell, Tossed up on off, Russell looks to defend but gets a leading edge towards the off side. Just 3 runs from the over. |
| 10.1 : I Tahir to S Gill, OUT! STUMPED! Tahir gets another! Chennai now into the lower order and Kolkata haven't even crossed 50. The googly does the trick. It lands on leg stump, Gill looks to drive it down the ground but leaves a gap between bat and pad. The ball sneaks through, Gill then loses his balance and his back foot comes out of the crease. Dhoni behind collects the ball and whips the bails off. |
| 0.0 : Piyush Chawla is the new batsman in. |
| 10.2 : I Tahir to P Chawla, Floated on middle, Chawla defends it off the back foot. |
| 10.3 : I Tahir to P Chawla, Full on off, Chawla drives it to covers. |
| 10.4 : I Tahir to P Chawla, Floated on middle, Chawla sweeps it towards square leg for a run. |
| 10.5 : I Tahir to A Russell, Full on off, Russell drives it towards mid off for a single. |
| A stumping appeal has been taken upstairs. Chennai do not seem that excited though. |
| 10.6 : I Tahir to P Chawla, NOT OUT! Chawla is in! Hence, Dhoni was not that confident. It is the googly outside off, it pitches and then turns away. Chawla looks to drive but misses. Dhoni collects the ball and appeals but not in a very convincing manner. Tahir though is already celebrating. The umpire takes it upstairs but replays show that the batsman is safe. |
| Harbhajan Singh is back into the attack. |
| 11.1 : H Singh to A Russell, Floated on middle, Russell flicks it to the leg side. |
| 11.2 : H Singh to A Russell, SIX! That is out of here! This is easier for Russell, the ball turning in. He goes with the turn with a slog sweep and clears the mid-wicket fence. First of the game. |
| 11.3 : H Singh to A Russell, Flighted delivery on middle, Russell flicks it towards square leg for a run. |
| 11.4 : H Singh to P Chawla, Floated on off, Chawla defends it off the front foot. |
| 11.5 : H Singh to P Chawla, Good delivery from Harbhajan. It is tossed up on off, Chawla looks to defend but gets an outside edge towards first slip. It falls short of the fielder. |
| 11.6 : H Singh to P Chawla, Full on off, Chawla drives it to covers. |
| 12.1 : I Tahir to A Russell, Flighted delivery on middle, Russell keeps it out. |
| 12.2 : I Tahir to A Russell, In the air... that has gone into orbit, Harbhajan settles under it but DROPS it. How costly is this going to be? Russell, the man who has been in exceptional form, has been given a life. Tahir bowls this one slower and lands it on middle, it is the leg spinner. Russell looks to go against the turn and over mid-wicket. Only manages a top edge towards wide mid on. Harbhajan Singh never seemed comfortable under it and he spills it. |
| 12.3 : I Tahir to A Russell, On the shorter side, AR pulls it through mid-wicket for a run. |
| 12.4 : I Tahir to P Chawla, On the stumps, kept out. |
| 12.5 : I Tahir to P Chawla, SIX! HUGE! What a shot from Chawla. Not only is it a maximum but it would also take some pressure off Russell. Piyush goes down on one knee and slog sweeps it over the mid-wicket fence. |
| 12.6 : I Tahir to P Chawla, BEATEN! A googly to end the over on off, Chawla looks to drive but misses. So what could have been a successful over for the hosts has turned out to be a good one for the visitors. 7 from it. |
| Scott Kuggeleijn is back into the attack. |
| 13.1 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, Bowls short on middle, Russell punches it to covers. |
| 13.2 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, Bowls a good bouncer, Russell does well to duck under it. |
| 13.3 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, Extraordinary stuff from Jadeja. It will go down as a DROP but too harsh to call that. A short ball on middle, Russell hoicks it towards the mid-wicket fence. Jadeja there runs to his right also a little backwards. He then sticks one hand up and then manages to push it back inside play. Saves 5 runs for his side. |
| 13.4 : S Kuggeleijn to P Chawla, Length delivery on leg, Chawla flicks it towards square leg for a single. |
| 13.5 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, FOUR! Powerful shot from Russell. Length delivery on middle, Russell lofts it over mid-wicket for a boundary. A much-needed boundary for Kolkata. |
| 13.6 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, On a good length on middle, Russell defends it off the back foot and takes a quick single. 7 runs have come from the over. |
| 14.1 : I Tahir to A Russell, Tossed up on middle, Russell defends it off the front foot. |
| 14.2 : I Tahir to A Russell, Full on middle, Russell drives it straight towards Tahir. |
| 14.3 : I Tahir to A Russell, FOUR! Do not try to stop that, it would have taken your hand off. What power. Dances down the track and takes it on the full. He smashes it past Tahir and that went to the fence in a jiffy. |
| 14.4 : I Tahir to A Russell, Excellent bowling! Slows it up does Tahir and bowls it outside off. It is the tempter. He wanted Russell to go big. The big man though resists and lets it be. |
| Review time. Dhoni is seen talking to Tahir and laughing as he signals the 'T'. Maybe just wants to appease his bowler. Let's see. The ball could be doing too much. |
| 14.5 : I Tahir to A Russell, NOT OUT! It is doing too much! Dhoni knew about it and hence, had a smile when Tahir was asking him to review. Chennai lose their only review. Once again this is nicely bowled. Slower through the air on the leg stump, this one pitches and turns away. Russell looks to play with a closed face of the bat but misses. The ball hits him on the pads. Tahir makes a loud shout but the umpire shakes his head. The leggie feels he has got his man and wants Dhoni to review. The Ch |
| 14.6 : I Tahir to A Russell, A single and that will end Tahir's spell tonight. He finishes with figures of 4-0-21-2. Russell does well to negotiate his last ball nicely as he pushes it to long off for a single. |
| Harbhajan Singh is back into the attack. |
| 15.1 : H Singh to A Russell, It was tossed up on middle, Russell flicks it towards mid-wicket for a single. |
| 15.2 : H Singh to P Chawla, Tossed up on off, Chawla plays it on the front foot. |
| 15.3 : H Singh to P Chawla, OUT! Harbhajan gets his second. Not clever batting this from Chawla. He has Russell at the other end but instead of giving him the strike, he decides to be the hero. Steps out way too early. Singh spots that and slows it up wide outside off. Chawla looks to reach it but fails to do so. Dhoni makes no mistake behind. |
| Strategic break. Andre Russell has managed to stay for Kolkata and will look to go for big shots in the death overs. Chennai has restricted them but have dropped a simple catch of Andre Russell. Harbhajan has been the culprit. Kolkata are 76/7 and will look to get atleast 120-130 to put up a fight. Kuldeep Yadav is the new batsman in. |
| A run out appeal. Not sure why, because Kuldeep is miles out. Possibly the umpires want to see whether Harbhajan had the ball in his hand while knocking the stumps over. Let's see now... |
| 15.4 : H Singh to K Yadav, OUT! RUN OUT! Yes, he has dislodged the bails cleanly. Two in two for the hosts. Kuldeep bags a golden duck. A crazy mix-up there. This is tossed up on off, the ball pitches and then turns away. Kuldeep looks to defend but only manages an outside edge towards short third man. Russell wants a run but Yadav is ball-watching. He eventually has to go for it. By that time though, Rayudu picks the ball up and throws it to the bowler. The throw is not a good one. Singh though |
| Prasidh Krishna to bat next. |
| 15.5 : H Singh to A Russell, Short on middle, Russell pulls it to mid-wicket. |
| 15.6 : H Singh to A Russell, Full toss on middle, Russell lofts it over mid-wicket for a single. |
| Ravindra Jadeja is back on. |
| 16.1 : R Jadeja to A Russell, Jadeja fires it wide outside off, it turns away even more. Wided. |
| R Jadeja to A Russell, Misfield and a single! Chennai won't mind though as Russell is off strike. Short and outside off, AR cuts it towards point. The fielder there fumbles and a run is taken. |
| 16.2 : R Jadeja to P Krishna, On the stumps, blocked. |
| 16.3 : R Jadeja to P Krishna, OUT! No. 9 goes down and Chennai have three more balls to wrap this up with Russell stranded at the non-striker's end. A soft dismissal this. It is full and on the pads. Krishna flicks it but does not keep it down. It goes straight to Singh at short mid-wicket who makes no mistake this time. |
| Harry Gurney is the last man in. Two slips in place for him. |
| 16.4 : R Jadeja to H Gurney, Fires it on the stumps, Gurney blocks it out. 2 more balls to play out. |
| 16.5 : R Jadeja to H Gurney, One more, as he is again solid in defense. |
| 16.6 : R Jadeja to H Gurney, Plays this one out too! Three overs to go and you would probably feel Russell would face most of the deliveries now. This is slower through the air on middle, Gurney blocks it out. |
| Scott Kuggeleijn is back into the attack. |
| 17.1 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, FOUR! That is exactly what Russell has to do in the next 17 balls. The slower one on middle, Russell waits for it and hits it in the gap in the mid-wicket region for a boundary. Ideal start to the over. |
| 0.0 : A strange field placement here by Dhoni. He has brought another fielder on the leg side from the off side and placed him at the deep mid-wicket region. Just the long off out on the off side. |
| 17.2 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, DROPPED! It was bowled short and outside off, Russell smashes it towards point, Watson there drops a tough catch to his left and he saves a certain boundary. It goes through him. The batsmen get two runs. |
| 17.3 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, Good bowling! Bowls it on the body of Russell. He pulls it to deep square leg but does not take the run. |
| 17.4 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, Dances around in his crease to disturb the line of the bowler. Scott is affected as he bowls it down the leg side. Wided. |
| S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, On the shorter side, Russell pulls it but does not get the timing, it goes all along the ground to deep mid-wicket. Once again no run. |
| 17.5 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, A single this time! Back of a length on off, Russell chops it towards covers for a run. Gurney has one ball to keep out. |
| 17.6 : S Kuggeleijn to H Gurney, He does play it out! A harmless delivery though that one. It is short and outside off, Gurney guides it down to third man but the batsmen do not run. A good over this, 8 from it. |
| Deepak Chahar to bowl out. |
| 18.1 : D Chahar to A Russell, Another dot! Once again, the timing is not there. Length and on middle, Russell hits it flat and on the bounce to long on. |
| 18.2 : D Chahar to A Russell, Not off the middle again! Full and outside off, Russell throws the kitchen sink at it but it goes off the inner half towards short fine leg. |
| 18.3 : D Chahar to A Russell, SIX! Once again it is not off the middle but such is the power of the man that it carries all the way. Length and on middle, Russell swings, it is not off the middle. Jadeja at long on for a second thought he has a chance but the ball clears him. Need a few more. Also, replays show Jadeja was slightly inside the ropes. Had he been at the ropes, it could have been a catch. |
| 18.4 : D Chahar to A Russell, Very full, difficult for a batsman to get under it. Russell smashes it to long off and does not run. |
| 18.5 : D Chahar to A Russell, Good change in pace there. It is short and outside off, it is the slower one. Russell looks to upper cut but misses. One ball to go, will he take a single now or will he go for the biggie? |
| 18.6 : D Chahar to A Russell, He goes for the biggie but just does not connect. In the process, he seems to have hurt himself. He had really swung hard there. Short and outside off, Russell looks to hit it out of the park but misses. He then catches hold of his shoulder. He is fine to continue though. An excellent over, however, from Chahar. He bowled 6 balls to Russell and went for only 6 runs. |
| 19.1 : S Kuggeleijn to H Gurney, Gurney does what Kolkata would be hoping of him. He gets a single by hitting it towards sweeper cover. 5 balls to go, can Russell produce some magic? |
| 19.2 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, He does not on the first ball he faces in this over. It is short and on the body, Russell swings but it goes off the inner half towards deep square leg. No runs taken. |
| 19.3 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, SIX! He has picked the bones out of that one but seems to be in a lot of pain as he clutches his palm. This is short and on the body, Russell sends it sailing over the mid-wicket fence. 3 balls to go, 2 more? |
| 19.4 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, FOUR! Hammered! The fielder actually does well to get a hand to it. Short and on the body, Russell pulls it hard towards deep square leg. The fielder there runs to his left and looks to push it back in but the force is a lot and he fails to do so. 10 from the last two balls. |
| 19.5 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, A dot! Gold dust at this stage! A low full toss outside off, Russell gets it off the lower part of the bat towards covers. |
| 19.6 : S Kuggeleijn to A Russell, FOUR! Fifty for Russell, once again he is the hero with the bat for Kolkata. His 7th in this League. Ends the innings with a boundary. 15 from the last over. This is a length ball and on off, Russell clobbers it past the bowler. The fielder at long off runs to his right, dives but fails to stop it. KOLKATA END WITH 108/9! |
| The pattern for Kolkata continues, once again it is Russell who comes to the fore after their batting line-up fails. This time however, I ain't sure if this is going to be enough and it is surely the hosts which will be the happier of the two sides at the break. |
| Chennai won the toss and elected to field and were off to the perfect start as Chahar struck in the very first over. Kolkata just never recovered after that and kept losing wickets at regular intervals. At 47 for 6 it seemed 100 would be a problem, Russell however, held one end up and has given their bowlers something to bowl at with a fifty. |
| For the home side, Chahar was the star as he picked a three-fer. Harbhajan and Tahir too had a couple each to their name. Scott is the only bowler who finished wicketless. All-in-all an excellent effort from them. |
| Deepak Chahar is caught for a little chat. He says it's quite hot out there. States that he has been practicing with the wet ball, so is glad it paid off in this game. Adds that he knew given the home conditions for his side, he would have to work on his variations, so prepared himself early and well for the challenge. |
| Now then, Chennai should chase this down quite easily. Kolkata though have a good bowling line-up but they will really have to bowl out of their skins here. Is there an upset on the cards or will Chennai go top? |
Google +
Facebook
Twitter
Whatsapp