Paul-struck Chennai Super Kings lose to Kings XI Punjab

It has been one of those matches which left everyone awestruck. A right word to describe the performance put up by both Chennai Super Kings and the Kings XI Punjab. The latter won the match by six wickets after a swashbuckling knock from Paul Valthaty.

Having won the toss, Kings XI Punjab chose to bat first on a pitch that had a lot to offer for the bowlers as well as the batsmen. Praveen Kumar squeezed everything out of the pitch in his initial over; dismissing Srikkanth Anirudha and Suresh Raina in the first two balls of the match. 

Subramanian Badrinath and Murali Vijay put up a resilient 124-run stand to steady the ship for the Super Kings.  The momentum kept going with the brisk scoring rate from the batsmen. Vijay scored in balls which included some gutsy sixes too. Badrinath kept the scoreboard ticking with his innings of 66. M.S. Dhoni continued his purple patch with his brutal innings that helped the Super Kings reach a total of 188/4 after 20 overs. It was an effort well applauded especially after their initial crisis.

Punjab had a mountain to climb to chase the target at more than nine runs an over. Adam Gilchrist and Paul Valthathy did exactly what they were supposed to do by putting up a brilliant opening stand. They raced to 61 in 5.5 overs when Gilchrist flicked a ball straight in the hands of Suraj Randiv to the bowling of Albie Morkel. For a change, he was a spectator to the murderous batting of Paul during his innings of 19. Shaun Marsh was run out leaving Kings XI reeling at 100-2 from 10.1 overs. With ample wickets in hand and nine overs to chase the total, Paul Valthaty continued with his marauder to the Super Kings’ bowlers. Every shot of his showed great execution and powerful strokeplay. Bowlers with the likes of Morkel, Ashwin, Southee, Jakati, and Randiv were all having a bad day at the office with an average economy of eight.

Sunny Singh offered some support with his cameo of 20 which included two boundaries and a six. He got out to the bowling of Randiv. A twist in the tale- Southee trapped Abhishek Nayar lbw at the very next delivery which left Punjab reeling again at 136-4. While all of this happened, Paul continued with what he had been doing throughout the innings. Usually, any ball that is pitched in a batsman’s area would be plundered to the boundary. But in Paul’s case there was no specific area. Every ball that came out of the bowler’s hands was hit for a boundary or a six and reached his century in 52 balls. 

Eventually, he scored an unbeaten 120 from 63 balls which included 19 fours and 2 sixes. Dinesh Karthik provided the right support to Paul’s innings with his knock of 21 that included two fours and a six to seal things off for his team.  

The commentators on air rightly described his innings- a colour blind batsman who could not see yellow fielders! Be it his slog sweeps or his slashes through the point or the hook strokes- he had it in his armour and used them at the right time.

While Chennai will have a lot to learn from this defeat especially their bowling and fielding aspects, Punjab got a huge morale booster to turn things around. No way better to do it under Gilchrist’s captaincy. He did it earlier for the Deccan Chargers and can be expected to do the same this time too. The match swayed both the sides with Chennai showing magnificent batting skills with their recover after the initial slump of two wickets. Punjab did the same too, but the smart chase ensured their victory.  Chennai face Bangalore in their next match and Punjab would play against Hyderabad.


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A good start by a nail-biting finish

The Chennai Super Kings kick-started their IPL campaign with a win over Kolkata Knight Riders by 2 runs. The match was swivelling between the two sides till the last ball. Srikkanth Anirudha was awarded with the man of the match for his brilliant performance of 64.

M.S. Dhoni won the toss and chose to bat first on the hard and dusty pitch at Chepauk. Anirudha proved to be a good substitute to Matthew Hayden and capitalised on opening opportunity. He played a crucial knock of 64 which included six boundaries and two sixes. 

On the other hand, Murali Vijay fell cheaply on the bowling of Iqbal Abdullah. Suresh Raina continued his purple patch- he scored 33 in 29 deliveries which included four boundaries. Just when he was settling down, he was dismissed off a wide outside off stump line delivery by Yusuf Pathan. He tried to hit the ball over midwicket only to find a fielder in Sarabjit Ladda. The score was 80-2.

Dhoni and Anirudha put up a 49 run partnership with Dhoni striking a boundary and a six in his innings of 29. He was dismissed when he tried to hook a slow bouncer from Jacques Kallis but ended up being caught by wicket-keeper. Anirudha was bowled by a magnificent yorker by Kallis. Some gutsy blows by Albie Morkel in the last over saw the Chennai Super Kings reaching to a total of 153 in 20 overs.

With the batting line up and the confidence Kolkata showed in the first innings, it looked like a walk in the park for the Kolkata Knight Riders. A surprise move by Gautam Gambhir witnessed Manvinder Bisla opening the innings with Kallis. The openers put up a solid 64 run stand in 8.5 overs before Bisla was dismissed for 27.Yusuf Pathan played with the same aggression as always. A huge six in the initial deliveries showed his intent. But he was run out after scoring 11 to a hesitation by both batsmen and a brilliant throw from Dhoni.

Meanwhile, Kallis continued to be resilient at the other end. Eventually, he was dismissed for 54 (7X4) after a failed paddle sweep attempt which ended up as a simple catch at short fine leg. Kolkata needed 39 of 20 deliveries at this point. Eoin Morgan was sent back to the pavilion after a combined effort of a fine stumping by Dhoni and clever bowling tactics of Raina. The scoreboard showed 119-4. This became 120-5 due to a horrible mix up and great backing up by Scott Styris. Gambhir made the long walk after scoring one run and his team struggling.

The match saw a twist. Manoj Tiwary struck two blistering sixes in debutant Suraj Randiv’s over and pulled the game back. But Randiv used his arm ball at the right time which induced Tiwary to come outside his crease but he missed the shot. Dhoni knocked the stumps in a flash. Kolkata were reeling at 145-6.

Tim Southee showed his death over bowling skills and took the wicket of Laxmi Shukla too. With four needed of the last ball, Southee bowled a yorker to give a leg bye. Dhoni’s men in yellow did it again and continued their winning streak after the Champions League.  

They face Kings XI Punjab in the next game and Kolkata would look to get themselves back on track with their next encounter against Deccan Chargers. Such a thriller finish has surely ensured a good start to the tournament.

Pictures © AFP