Highlights: Suresh Raina Hundred Delivers Second CLT20 Title For Chennai Super Kings
Suresh Raina's unbeaten 109 off 62 balls helped Chennai Super Kings decimate Kolkata Knight Riders by eight wickets and end their winning streak of 14 matches. Catch all the highlights of the match here:
Gautam Gambhir's 80 and KKR's 180 were not enough to stop CSK from pulling off an easy win in Bangalore on Saturday. Follow highlights here: (Scorecard)
22:09 IST: Chennai Super Kings are CLT20 champions for the second time and the only team besides Mumbai Indians to win the tournament twice. This is all thanks to an unbeaten 109 by Suresh Raina. Dhoni remained unbeaten on 23. That is the end of KKR's winning streak of 14 matches.
22:03 IST: That's hundred for Suresh Raina off 59 balls and he is not the only man to have scored hundreds in T20Is, IPL and the CLT20. Chennai are just 19 away from a win with 17 balls left.
21:54 IST: Suresh Raina has overtaken Robin Uthappa (210 runs) in the race for the golden bat. This has been a stellar knock in a high-profile final. Chennai Super Kings 146/2 in 15.4 overs.
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21:45 IST: WICKET! For some reason, Brendon McCullum, after playing the anchor's role to perfection, decided to go ballistic and lost his wicket in the process to Yusuf Pathan, holding out in the deep. Dhoni walks in with CSK 127/2 in 13.1 overs.
21:38 IST: Raina is unstoppable tonight; he has smashed Kuldeep Yadav for a straight SIX and moves to 71 as CSK reach 117/1 off 12.1 overs, chasing 181 vs KKR. McCullum has been reduced to a mere spectator here.
21:30 IST: Halfway through the innings, the Super Kings are looking strong at 90/1, needing 91 more from the next 10 overs with nine wickets in hand.
21:28 IST: Suresh Raina brings up his sixth CLT20 half-century off 27 balls as Chennai Super Kings reach 88/1 off 9.2 overs chasing 181. KKR are missing Sunil Narine big time.
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21:25 IST: Chennai Super Kings are looking like they are on course here. Raina and McCullum have already built a strong stand for the second wicket as the Super Kings reach 83/1 off 9 overs chasing 181 vs KKR.
21:08 IST: CSK are in touch with the asking rate despite an early loss Raina and McCullum are doing a great job against a quality attack. They are 47/1 after 5 overs chasing 181.
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21:00 IST: SIX! Power-packed shot from Raina as he sends Russell into the stands. Cracking cricket in Bangalore.
20:57 IST: Chennai will always be in the hunt. Despite losing Smith early, Raina and McCullum have kept the charge on. There's more fire to come with du Plessis, Bravo, Dhoni and Jadeja. KKR will be on their toes. CSK 26/1 off 3 overs.
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20:50 IST: WICKET! Pat Cummins strikes in the first over to remove Dwayne Smith for 8 and CSK are 9/1 chasing 181 vs Kolkata. What a start for the IPL champs. Suresh Raina joins McCullum at the crease.
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20:33 IST: Yusuf Pathan clobbered Nehra for two fours and a six as Kolkata Knight Riders finished with 180/6 despite a superb 80 by Gautam Gambhir. It was Pawan Negi's fifer (5/22), including a last-over that stopped KKR from scoring even more. Negi says there's help for the spinners on this pitch.
20:27 IST: Negi has broken the back of the KKR batting in just one over. Three wickets in his last over as the left-arm spinner takes out Pandey, ten Doeschate and Suryakumar Yadav, the last two for ducks. Negi finishes with 5/22 off his four overs and KKR are 161/6 in 19 overs.
20:23 IST: WICKET! Dhoni's gutsy decision to bowl Negi in the 19th over against a rampaging Pandey pays off. He tried to hit him our of the park and is caught for 32 off 19 balls.
20:21 IST: Manish Pandey takes Ashish Nehra to the cleaners as Kolkata Knight Riders reach 159/3 in 18 overs. Two more overs for the IPL champs to get a massive score.
20:19 IST: SIX! Boom, the sound of bat meeting ball as Nehra drops short and Pandey hammers it straight over the bowler's head. SIX! And he does it again as Nehra looks on in disbelief. KKR 156/3 in 17.3 overs.
20:17 IST: Full toss from Nehra; above waist height so it's a no-ball and Manish Pandey smashes a FOUR! KKR 144/3 in 17 overs.
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20:16 IST: What an over from Jadeja; just three off it and the wicket of Gautam Gambhir. Kolkata 139/3 off 17 overs vs Chennai Super Kings in the title clash of the CLT20. Manish Pandey and Yusuf Pathan have three overs to post a huge score.
20:14 IST: WICKET! That's the end of a superb knock by Gambhir; he has perished to Ravindra Jadeja for 80 off 52 balls, caught brilliantly by Brendon McCullum running in from long-off.
20:08 IST: SIX! Gambhir hammers Bravo for maximum as he moves to 74. KKR 124/2 in 15.1 overs vs Chennai Super Kings. This has the makings of a great match. Small ground, a powerful CSK line up and a good spin attack for KKR.
20:03 IST: Gambhir is clearly the key here for the Knight Riders. He is playing a captain's knock here and has another local lad, Manish Pandey for company. He has been in great form over the last two innings and should able to help the skipper put up a strong total on the board.
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19:56 IST: WICKET! Another one for Negi as Kallis holds out to Nehra in the deep. This match is turning pretty quickly. KKR 97/2.
Hate to say it but Kallis's dismissal was a blessing in disguise for KKR. Can't afford to take the foot off the accelerator #CSKvKKR
- Aakash Chopra (@cricketaakash) October 4, 2014
19:52 IST: Gambhir brings up his third CLT20 fifty as KKR reach 95/1 in 11.2 overs. This is a captain's knock.
19:50 IST: WICKET! Finally, a breakthrough for the Super Kings as Negi has Uthappa stumped by Dhoni. He played his part though, slamming 39 off 32 balls. KKR now 91/1 in 10.5 overs.
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19:46 IST: Halfway through the innings, KKR are 89/0 with Gambhir on verge of his third CLT20 half-century.
19:42 IST: Ashwin is getting the harsh treatment from Gambhir and Uthappa. The drives, deft touches and reverse sweeps are all coming into good play. KKR 79/0 ff 9 overs.
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19:35 IST: The trouble for the Super Kings is that both KKR openers have been very aggressive. The margin for error has been minimum with both batsmen looking to punishing anything remotely loose. Score: 61/0 after 7 overs.
19:32 IST: Powerplay over and KKR are 54/0 off 6 overs. This is as good a start as it can be for the IPL champions, who are missing their star-spinner.
19:23 IST: R Ashwin in the attack for Chennai with KKR racing away to 36/0 off 4 overs. Can he make an impact?
19:18 IST: Mohit Sharma bowls a slow bouncer on a slow pitch and FOUR! Gambhir gives it the treatment it deserves. Chennai have to start thinking here. KKR have a lot of firepower in their line-up.
Local lad Uthappa helped KKR to a blazing start in the final.
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19:17 IST: An electrifying start for the Knight Riders, who have raced away to 29/0 off 3 overs.
19:14 IST: FOUR! Gambhir closes the face of the bat as he gets an edge off Nehra; the ball races away to the fence. Ugly replays. KKR 24/0 in the third over.
19:09 IST: FOUR! Mohit pitched short on the pads and Gambhir punishes that in style. Good start for the Knight Riders. If either of the openers stays on for a long innings, Chennai could be staring at a tough chase.
19:07 IST: FOUR! Cracking shot from Uthappa as he puts Mohit Sharma away. Uthappa is playing on his homeground and there will be a lot of support; even his singles are being cheered.
19:06 IST: Good first over from Nehra; Kolkata are 5/0 as Gambhir and Uthappa wait to suss up the conditions.
19:00 IST: There it is then. The KKR openers Gambhir and Uthappa are out in the middle as Nehra takes the new ball for CSK. They had started off the CLT20 this year and here they are to finish it off in what promises to be a cracking final.
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18:45 IST: Playing XIs:
Chennai Super Kings: DR Smith, BB McCullum, SK Raina, F du Plessis, DJ Bravo, MS Dhoni (Captain & WK), RA Jadeja, R Ashwin, P Negi, MM Sharma, A Nehra
Kolkata Knight Riders: RV Uthappa (WK), G Gambhir (Captain), JH Kallis, MK Pandey, YK Pathan, RN ten Doeschate, SA Yadav, AD Russell, PJ Cummins, PP Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav
18:34 IST: Chennai Super Kings won the toss and elected to field against Kolkata Knight Riders in Bangalore. While the Super Kings remained unchanged, Kolkata added Pat Cummins instead of Sunil Narine, who was ruled out of the final after being reported for suspect action.
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The 2014 Champions League Twenty20 final between Chennai Super Kings and Kolkata Knight Riders will be a rematch of the tournament opener, which was played on 17 September 2014, where Kolkata beat CSK by three wickets.
While Kolkata have been unbeatable so far in the tournament, they will definitely miss the services of their most reliable mystery spinner Sunil Narine in the final, who was ruled out after being reported for a suspect action for a second time in the semifinals. However, Kolkata, who have rode on good batting performances from skipper Gautam Gambhir and opener Robin Uthappa, are known to produce new match-winners every tournament.
On the other hand, Chennai's road to the finals included two wins, one loss and one match where points were split in the group stage. Only after Perth Scorchers beat the Lahore Lions in the last match of Group A could Chennai proceed to the semis, where they beat Punjab on the back of a great performance from the bowlers.
Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis and Dhoni will be the key players for Chennai in the final as far as the batting department is concerned.
For Kolkata, Cummins is the bowler most likely to replace Narine and spinner Kuldeep Yadav is expected to have a huge impact on the game. Among the Chennai bowlers, Ashish Nehra will be looking to pick up more wickets and win the Golden Wicket award. Ashwin and Jadeja will be two spinners who will have a say in how Chennai performs in this match, as usual.
There is a lot to play for both the teams as the winners will take the prized 2014 CLT20 trophy along with a cool cheque of 2,500,000 dollars. The losing team will be awarded 1,300,000 dollars.