Chennai Super Kings vs. Kolkata Knight Riders, CLT20: Scorecard and Report

Kolkata Knight Riders produced a superb run chase to beat Chennai Super Kings by three wickets in the opening Group A match of the 2014 Champions League Twenty20 tournament.

Chennai looked on course for a comfortable victory after blowing away the Kolkata top order, having posted a respectable 157-4, but Ryan ten Doeschate and Andre Russell put on 80 in less than eight overs and it helped them claim what looked an unlikely victory.

		R	B	4s	6s
DR Smith	c †Bisla b Chawla	20	13	4	0
BB McCullum	lbw b Pathan	22	19	3	0
SK Raina	lbw b Narine	28	24	3	0
F du Plessis	st †Bisla b Chawla	14	16	1	0
MS Dhoni*†	not out	35	20	3	2
DJ Bravo	not out	28	28	2	2
Extras	(lb 2, w 8)	10
		O	M	R	W
PJ Cummins		4	0	49	0
UT Yadav		4	0	43	0
PP Chawla		4	0	26	2
SP Narine		4	0	9	1
YK Pathan		3	0	16	1
AD Russell		1	0	12	0

Chennai had contributions all the way down their order but they were restricted by Sunil Narine who only conceded nine runs in his four overs.

"

Sunil Narine is beginning to pose an irresistible case to be regarded as the best T20 player of all time. #CSKvKKR #CLT20

— Freddie Wilde (@fwildecricket) September 17, 2014"

The West Indies spinner trapped Suresh Raina lbw for 28 after dangerous openers Dwayne Smith (20) and Brendon McCullum (22) had failed to convert starts into big scores.

"

Suresh Raina hasn't missed a single game for CSK since his IPL debut in 2008 He has in all played 115 #IPL games & 20 #CLT20 games! #KKRvCSK

— Mohandas Menon (@mohanstatsman) September 17, 2014"

However MS Dhoni (35) and Dwayne Bravo (28) shared an unbeaten 71-run partnership in 7.3 overs with the captain hitting a six into the upper tier off the final ball of the innings.

"

#CLT20 : #KKR need 158 runs to win against #CSK #CSKvKKR #CricketG pic.twitter.com/uqS4A5pYfq

— Denny Lawrence (@Denny_Lawrence) September 17, 2014"

Ashish Nehra took 3-7 in the powerplay, including wickets with consecutive balls, as KKR stuttered to 28-4 after six overs.

Kolkata looked in huge trouble at 51-5, but Ten Doeschate and Russell mastered the bowling in the second half of the innings.

Both spin and seam were sent to all parts of the ground, and it set up a grandstand finish.

Chennai captain Dhoni turned to his gun bowler Nehra late in the innings and he knocked over Russell’s off stump with a brilliant yorker.

Ten Doeschate, who had played a support role to Russell during their partnership, took up the baton and he saw Kolkata over the line with an over to spare.

"

What a victory for #KKR!! Very well played! The class of Ryan ten Doeschate and the power of Andre Russell drowns #CSK #CLT20

— Nishad Pai Vaidya (@nishad_45) September 17, 2014"

		R	B	4s	6s
MS Bisla†	c Ashwin b Nehra	2	11	0	0
G Gambhir*	c Bravo b Nehra	6	5	1	0
MK Pandey	c Sharma b Nehra	0	1	0	0
YK Pathan	c du Plessis b Sharma	1	5	0	0
RN ten Doeschate	not out	51	41	3	2
SA Yadav	c Ashwin b Jadeja	19	17	1	1
AD Russell	b Nehra	58	25	4	5
PJ Cummins	run out (Jadeja/†Dhoni)	8	8	0	0
PP Chawla	not out	4	1	1	0
Extras	(lb 1, w 9)	10
		O	M	R	W
A Nehra		4	0	21	4
IC Pandey		4	0	31	0
MM Sharma		3	0	31	1
RA Jadeja		2	0	25	1
R Ashwin		3	0	29	0
DJ Bravo		3	0	21	0

Perth Scorchers, Dolphins and Lahore Lions, who came through the qualifying pool, complete Group A in the sixth edition of the event.

The top two will progress to the semi-finals with the tournament coming to a crescendo in Bangalore on October 4.