Kolkata, April 30 (IANS) A late cameo from all-rounder Pawan Negi (27; 13b, 4×4 1×6) ensured that Chennai Super Kings (CSK) reached a challenging 165/9 against a spirited Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) bowling performance at the Eden Garden here on Thursday.
For the Knights, Brad Hogg was the pick of the bowlers as he returned with figures of 4/29 from his four overs.
Opting to bowl first, KKR drew first blood on the very first ball of the innings when Ryan ten Doeschate took a blinder at point to dismiss the dangerous opener Dwayne Smith (0).
However, pacer Pat Cummins’ remaining five balls of the over yielded 19 runs as Brendon McCullum carved him for two sixes.
Suresh Raina (8; 10b 2×4), who became the first batsman to get past 3,500 runs in IPL cricket, perished in the fourth over but the visitors continued scoring at a brisk rate reaching past 50 in just 24 balls.
KKR’s 44-year-old veteran, Hogg stemmed the run flow as he picked up the dangerous looking McCullum (32;12b, 3×4 3×6) adjudged leg-before wicket with the score reading 64/3 in just 5.1 overs.
Two more CSK biggies fell thereafter as Faf du Plesis (20; 11b, 5×4 0x6), after hitting Piyush Chawla for three boundaries in an over succumbed to Hogg in the fifth delivery of his first over out stumped.
Skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni (1) soon followed his South African teammate after failing to pick a Chawla googly that crashed into his citadel. At the half way stage CSK were 88/5.
The visitors got past the 100-mark in the 11th over as runs came in a trickle. Dwayne Bravo (30; 32b 4×4) and Ravindra Jadeja (24; 30b 1×4 1×6) steadied the innings with 57-run partnership before before Pawan Negi’s blitz took them to a challenging total.
For the hosts, Andre Russell returned figures of 2/20.
