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Kolkata: Another brilliant knock by Robin Uthappa (67) and Shakib Al Hasan's quick-fire 46 helped Kolkata Knight Riders chase down 154 with 12 balls to spare at Eden Gardens on Tuesday.
KKR stayed at No.4 in the points table, one win away to play-off.
Peaking at the right time is something Chennai Super Kings have done so well in IPL and this season, Kolkata Knight Riders are seem to be peaking at the right time. With their fifth win on the trot.
Playing their first game of the season at Eden Garden, KKR bowlers did well to keep CSK to a par score of 154. The good work by the bowlers was then consolidated by the openers - Gautam Gambhir (21) and Robin Uthappa - who combined for their fourth 50 plus run-stand in five games scoring 64 runs in just seven overs. The partnership laid a solid foundation for the chase as KKR took two easy points with- wickets in hand.
Uthappa was unperturbed and took KKR to 88 for 1 in 10 overs, the team's best score at the half-way mark, before chipping to long-off in the 12th over. The wicket gave a slight glimmer of hope for CSK, but that was snatched away by a whirlwind 46-run knock of just 21 balls by Shakib Al Hasan taking KKR to victory with two overs to spare. Manihs Pandey remained unbeaten on 18 at the other end.
For CSK, Hilfenhausm who came in to this match in place of Samuel Badree was taken for 38 in his three overs while Pandey and Ravindra Jadeja took one wicket each.
After KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir had won the toss and elected to field first, their spinners kept CSK batsmen at bay for the major part of the innings only to see the visitors end strong at 154 for 4, courtesy Suresh Raina's 52-ball 65-run knock on Tuesday.
On an Eden track with a green tinge, it was expected that the fast bowlers will have major role to play, but Shakib Al Hasan and Sunil Narine did an excellent job to strangle CSK batsmen, giving away just 54 runs in their combined 8 overs.
After IPL debutant Pat Cummins (1/29) had removed Dwayne Smith with a peach of a delivery in the second over - a perfect outswinger that pitched on middle and moved away just enough to beat the West Indian and rattle the off-stump - Raina and Brendon McCullum combined for a 55-run stand for the second wicket, but the partnership came at a run-a-ball rate.
Shakib, who started the proceeding with the ball, was tidy as ever giving away just 16 runs in his first spell of three overs. Sunil Narine, who was tonked for a maximum by Suresh Raina off the first ball he bowled, came back well to concede just three more runs in his next 11 deliveries. Legspinner Piyush Chawla also started well giving away just 13 runs in his first two overs.
McCullum, who had started aggressively against the fast bowler Cummins taking him for two sixes and a four, struggled against the slow bowlers not able hit boundaries and also failed to rotate the strike. His demise in the 11th over as he tried to up the ante to Narine for 28 brought Faf du Plessis to the crease.
Du Plessis too had a sow start with Raina also not able to beak free. CSK crawled to 80 for 2 in 13 overs with the left-hander batting on 35 off 39 balls. But the 14th bowled by Chawla provided the much needed impetus to CSK as Raina hit him for two consecutive sixes before finishing off the over with a four. 19 runs came off it with Raina reaching his third fifty of the season. Shakib's final over was taken for 14 runs and CSK were set for acceleration.
They lost Du Plessis to a direct hit from Chawla in the 17th over for 23, thus ending a 62-run stand that came off 36 balls and with the departure of Raina in the next over to Chawla, Dhoni (21*) and Jadeja (9*) finished strong taking 30 runs in the final three overs.
Earlier, KKR have won the toss and have opted to field first.
KKR made only change - Pat Cummins comes in for Morne Morkel, while Two changes for CSK -- David Hussey and Samuel Badree out, Ben Hilfenhaus and Faf du Plessis come in.
Chennai are already through to the play-offs.
Teams
Kolkata: Gautam Gambhir (Capt.), Robin Uthappa (wk), Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Shakib Al Hasan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Suryakumar Yadav, Piyush Chawla, Sunil Narine, Umesh Yadav, Pat Cummins
Chennai: Brendon McCullum, Dwayne Smith, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, MS Dhoni (Capt. & wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Mithun Manhas, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ben Hilfenhaus, Ishwar Pandey, Mohit Sharma
Brief scores
Chennai Super Kings - 154/4 (Raina 65)
Kolkata Knight Riders - 156/2 (Uthappa 67, Shakib Al Hasan 46*)
Result - Kolkata Knight Riders won by 8 wickets
Points - Kolkata Knight Riders 2, Chennai Super Kings 0
