Chennai Super Kings Wins CLT20

Kolkata Knight Rider                    180 / 6 in 20 Overs

G Gambhir          80(52)                            P Negi          5-22

R Uthappa          39(32)                            R Jadega      1-25

Chennai Super Kings                    185 / 2 in 18.3 Overs                            

S Raina          109(62)                               P Cummins   1-32
B McCullum    39(30)                                Y Pathan       1-34

Result: Chennai Super Kings win by 8 wickets.

The Chennai Super Kings added the Champions League T20 2014 to their trophy cabinet after they defeated the Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets in the final of the Oppo CLT20 2014. In front of a boisterous crowd at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium in Bengaluru, MS Dhoni’s side – powered by Suresh Raina’s dazzling century – made light work of their chase of the 181-run target set by the IPL champions, romping home in 18.3 overs. Skipper MS Dhoni sealed the deal for his team in his signature style, hitting Pat Cummins for a six to take his team over the finish line.

After CSK lost opener Dwayne Smith in the very first over of the chase, Raina began in cheeky fashion as he got off the mark with a French cut.

He brought up his half-century off 27 balls and needed a further 32 balls to get to the three-figure mark. When he got to his century, Raina became the first Indian cricketer to score three hundred in the T20 format.

Raina found an able aide in Brendon McCullum, who chose to play second-fiddle in the second-wicket partnership; in the 118-run association, the Kiwi batsman contributed 39 as against his partner’s 78. McCullum was dismissed at the start of the 14th over when he attempted to slog-sweep Yusuf Pathan but picked out Ryan ten Doeschate patrolling the mid-wicket boundary.

MS Dhoni promoted himself to bat at number four, and he and Raina took their side home in a canter. The pair ran well between the wickets and picked up boundaries frequently, bring up the 50-run partnership in 30 balls when MS Dhoni launched into Pat Cummins to finish things off in style. Raina remained unbeaten on 109 (studded with six fours and eight sixes), while Dhoni walked back with 23 (one four and two sixes).

Earlier in the evening, after being put in to bat, KKR needed a solid platform from which to build, and they got exactly that from their opening pair. Robin Uthappa held his shape and played some exquisite strokes in his 32-ball 39 – including a straight drive off Mohit Sharma and a punch on-drive off R Ashwin, while skipper Gautam Gambhir – who has made this habit of performing in high-stakes matches - used plenty of muscle in the course of his 52-ball knock.

Both batsmen matched each other run for run as the 50 came up in 5.4 overs. They operated smartly too, picking up plenty of singles apart from picking up one boundary every over, taking their team to 91 in the eleventh over. That’s when Robin charged out and attempted to hit Pawan Negi over the top, but was beaten in the flight and easily stumped by MS Dhoni. When Jacques Kallis perished in the left-arm spinner’s following over, and all the good work done by the openers had been undone.

Gambhir though wasn’t done for the night and soldiered on. He ensured there was addition to the scoreboard every delivery. The southpaw was involved in a partnership of 39 runs with Manish Pandey, before an attempted hit over the top off Ravindra Jadeja landed in the hands of Brendon McCullum. The KKR skipper made 80 – his highest score of the Oppo CLT20 2014.

Manish hit Ashish Nehra for two sixes and a boundary in the 18th over, before he became the first of Negi’s three victims in the 19th over. Yusuf Pathan’s blitz in the final over took the IPL champions to 180 for 6.Barring Pawan Negi (whose 5 for 22 were the best bowling figures in the Champions League T20) and Ravindra Jadeja, none of the other CSK had answers to the KKR batsmen’s run-scoring ways. The two left-arm spinners conceded 47 runs and picked up six wickets in their eight overs, while the rest of the bowlers leaked 131 runs in 12 overs.   

Man of the Match: Pawan Negi

Man of the Series: Suresh Raina (CSK)

Golden Bat Award: Suresh Raina (CSK)

Golden Wicket Award: Sunil Narine (KKR)

Fair Play Award: Cape Cobras

Power Player of the Series: Suresh Raina (CSK)

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