With nothing to lose Kolkata were ready to take on an upbeat Chennai team at the SuperSport Park, looking to end their IPL campaign on a winning note. The Chennai captain MS Dhoni won the toss and looking to put a good score on board, elected to bat first. Chennai had a set-back with the tournament high scorer and the 'Orange Cap' holder Matthew Hayden ruled out due to an injury. He was replaced by the Tasamanian all-rounder George Bailey. Meanwhile Kolkata had four changes - the expensive Mortaza, Shoaib Shaikh, Yashpal Singh and Ishant Sharma went out while Ajantha Mendis, Ashok Dinda, Laxmi Ratan Shukla and Anureet Singh came in.In the absence of Matthew Hayden, George Bailey joined Parthiv Patel at the opening slot. The duo took Chennai off to a quick start, not letting the Kolkata bowlers to settle down. The took advantage of the powerplay overs, scoring at a run-rate of 9 per over, while Kolkata continued with their sorry effort in the fielding department. The Knight Riders finally got the break when a sharp throw from Shukla found Parthiv Patel short of the crease, bringing the 59 run partnership to an end. Things slowed down for Chennai after Parthiv's dismissal. Kolkata pegged things back with the spinners bowled in tandem. The pressure resulted in one more wicket when George Bailey was run-out thanks to one more direct hit by Shukla. Raina and Dhoni got together and took over the responsibility of taking Chennai to a good total. Singles and twos along with regular boundaries was the feature of their partnership. Kolkata's fielding got from bad to worse when Murali Karthik put down a simple chance offered by Dhoni in the 14th over, much to the fury of Agarkar. Raina and Dhoni maintained a good run-rate while entering the death overs. Raina was the first to step on the accelerator, scoring consecutive sixers off Mendis in the 16th over. Raina went on to score his fifty with a six off Dinda. However his innings came to an end just after that when he holed out to Shukla, who looked to be the only fielder in the Knight Riders camp capable of taking the catch. Dhoni and Morkel kept the runs coming, donning the attacking role during the end overs. Morkel finished off the run riot in style with two sixers and a four in the final over taking Chennai to a formidable score of 188/3.With an up-hill task in hand, Brendon McCullum started off aggressively, with boundaries and sixers flowing freely off his bat. His hard hitting ensured that Kolkata's run-rate was on par with Chennai. However, Ganguly on the other hand, was looking like a fish out of the water, struggling to put bat to ball. His misery came to an end when he dragged a Muralitharan delivery back on to the stumps. McCullum was in no mood to give up. He kept the shots coming and went on to register the fastest fifty in the IPL, taking just 21 balls to get there. The Kiwi wicket-keeper played like a man possessed, reminisence of his knock during the first IPL match in 2008 against Bangalore. While he was trying to pull off a victory for the Kolkata side, Hodge played the ideal side-kick as the duo closed in on the required target.Just when things going right for Kolkata, Brendon McCullum's blazing innings came to an end. The Knight Riders captain missed out on a well deserved century after getting out to Jakati on 81 off just 46 balls. His innings included 11 fours and 3 sixers. More drama was to follow when David Hussey was run-out in the 16th over with Kolkata requiring 56 runs to win. Brad Hodge took over and he never let the momentum slip away. He took a leaf out of McCullum's innings and led the path for Kolkata. He went on to score a well made fifty during the process. With good support from Saha, Hodge took it to the last over requiring 6 runs to win. Raina was picked by Dhoni to bowl the final over. However he could not do much as Hodge and Saha held their nerves and took Kolkata to a well deserved victory. Hodge remained unbeaten 71 off just 44 balls. His innings included 4 fours and 4 sixers.A master innings by Brendon McCullum, well complemented by Brad Hodge helped Kolkata to a well deserved victory.
Interesting facts:
Chennai posted 188/3 batting first, their highest total in IPL 2009.Kolkata scored 189/3, their highest total in IPL 2009. It was also the second-highest team score in IPL 2009 behind Rajasthan's 211/4.The 90-run partnership for the second wicket between Brendon McCullum and Brad Hodge was the highest second-wicket stand for Kolkata this season.The 56-run partnership for the fourth wicket between Wriddhiman Saha and Brad Hodge was the highest fourth-wicket stand for Kolkata this season.Brendon McCullum set the record for the fastest in IPL 2009, bringing up his fifty in just 21 balls. He has now equalled the record for the fastest fifty in IPL. (Yusuf Pathan achieved the same feat in IPL 2008 against Deccan Chargers).During his knock of 71*, Brad Hodge became the first Kolkata batsman to go past 300 runs in IPL 2009.When Kolkata chased down 189 on Monday, they set the record for the highest successful chase of IPL 2009.Kolkata's score of 189/3 is the highest score at Supersport Park, Centurion in a Twenty20 match.
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