Kolkata Knight Riders, led by Manvinder Bisla and Jacques Kallis, stormed past the Chennai Super Kings to take their first IPL title on Monday.
Early on, it seemed that Suresh Raina’s 73 off 38 was enough to guide the Super Kings to their third straight title. However, Bisla had other ideas.
Among two line-ups packed full of cricketing talent, Bisla is not a household name. However he played like a superstar.
With the bulk of the pressure on the seasoned shoulders of Jacques Kallis (who is usually unfazed by even the most intense pressure), Bisla settled into his role, a role that would prove problematic for the Super Kings attack.
After smashing Albie Morkel for four fours under four overs, he similarly dispatched of Dwayne Bravo and Ravichandran Ashwin to have the Super Kings reaching for the panic button.
Soon he was on his way to a nippy half century. After hitting two sixes in three deliveries off Ashwin, he then brought his team to the hundred mark with a single from Shadab Jakati.
Jacques Kallis, at the opposite end, had played a quiet innings. He was allowing for his team mate to maintain the tempo as he chipped in with singles.
The duo kept the Super Kings’ bowlers guessing until a slower delivery from Morkel had Bisla hit it unconvincingly over point only for Subramaniam Badrinath, to claim a catch. Had he missed it, there is no doubt a century was his destiny, however he went out on 89 from 48 balls.
At this point, the Knight Riders needed 52 from 5.2 overs and Jacques Kallis stepped up to reduce on that deficit, until he too fell, reaching 69 from 49 before being bowled by Australian Ben Hilfenhaus.
After Laxmi Rathan Shukla and Yusuf Pathan were dismissed on quick successive wickets, the Knight Riders were looking at scraping 16 runs under 1.1 overs.
The margin of error at this point of the game was so thin you needed to be thorough in every calculation, but when Hilfenhaus bowled a full toss-no-ball to Shakib Al Hasan, he was quick to dispatch it for four.
On came Bravo, but he only managed to delay the party celebration. As soon as Manoj Tiwary met the bat with the ball, the result was sweet for Kolkata Knight Riders and Bollywood owner Shah Rukh Khan.
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