That’s as one-sided a game of cricket as you’ll ever see. Chennai batted well, though we’ll never know what might have happened had Mitchell Johnson caught McCullum or Dhoni when he had the chance. Kings XI would probably have lost by a little less, I suppose. Anyway, it’s been a thrill. Thanks for being here. Love you lots. Bye!
Chennai Super Kings win by 97 runs!
20th over: Kings XI 95-9 (Karanveer 2, Sandeep 0)
The innings ends, as indeed it begun and middled, with a whimper. Mohit Sharma bowls the final over, and it goes for one run, brings a wicket, and seals victory.
WICKET! Anureet c Jadeja b M Shamra 10 (Kings XI 94-9)
Another meek surrender. This time Sandeep is caught out by a slower ball, which he deflects to backward point, where Jadeja doesn’t need to move.
19th over: Kings XI 94-8 (Anureet Singh 10, Karanveer 2)
Bravo’s only going to bowl three overs tonight. Why tire the man out, after all? Kings XI have, on the plus side, moved to within 100 runs of their target. They only need 99 from the final over.
18th over: Kings XI 90-8 (Anureet Singh 8, Karanveer 0)
Nehra bowls his final over, and it brings three singles and a wicket. This really has been total trash from Kings XI. It’s a great big cloud with no silver linings.
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WICKET! Saha c Ashwin b Nehra 15 (Kings XI 90-8)
Saha flicks the ball off his pads, not a bad shot, if only that guy hadn’t been standing there, about to catch the ball. The rotter.
17th over: Kings XI 87-7 (Saha 15, Anureet Singh 7)
Bravo’s first two deliveries both yield single leg byes. Some actual runs follow, but not many. Overs two, three, four and five brought a four each but there’s only been one since, the last towards the start of over nine (though someone scored a six in over 11, to be fair).
16th over: Kings XI 83-7 (Saha 12, Anureet Singh 6)
A drop! Chennai drop one! To be fair, it would have been a glorious catch from Jadeja at long off, diving forward, but he could have reacted to the ball heading his way a bit quicker, and even so it was in his clutches for a fraction of a second there. And a misfield! It only costs a run, but they’ve made few mistakes tonight, and then two in one over, Ashwin’s last.
15th over: Kings XI 79-7 (Saha 10, Anureet Singh 4)
Bravo bowls for the first time tonight, and Singh edges wide of slip and only gets one run for his good fortune, as it’s cut off at third man. Five off the over, Kings XI need 22.8 off each of the last five if they’re going to win. They’re not going to win.
14th over: Kings XI 74-7 (Saha 7, Anureet Singh 2)
Mohit Sharma bowls, and Kings XI have given up entirely, the rest of this match being a case of going through the motions until defeat is rubber-stamped. To be absolutely specific the motion Saha is going through after the fifth ball is reeling backwards, the bouncer having smacked into the side of his helmet. Two runs from the over, they need 19.8 from each of the last six if they’re going to win.
13th over: Kings XI 72-7 (Saha 6, Anureet Singh 1)
This entire match has been a write-off from Kings XI, error-strewn and hero-free. Defeat is surely inevitable. They need 17.3 runs an over now, and won’t get them (though the spinners are nearly finished, which is something).
WICKET! Johnson c Nehra b Jadeja 1 (Kings XI 69-7)
This is all over, bar the whimpering. Johnson scoops a sweep high and Nehra takes another decent catch, low in the deep.
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12th over: Kings XI 69-6 (Saha 4, Johnson 1)
Ashwin’s second ball straightens and hits Patel at the top of the pads – there’s a strong, confident appeal, but the umpire Johan Cloete obviously feels it was going high. That was a very close call, but in the end it mattered not a jot, the batsman going next ball. 15.5 runs an over required.
WICKET! Patel st Dhoni b Ashwin 9 (Kings XI 66-6)
Ashwin trots forward, swings his bat, misses the ball and is done for.
11th over: Kings XI 66-5 (Saha 2, Patel 9)
Patel hits the fourth ball high towards long off, and looks up with fear in his eyes. No need: it clears the fielder as well as the rope – just – and brings six runs. Kings XI need to go at a little over 14 an over from here on.
10th over: Kings XI 57-5 (Saha 1, Patel 1)
The spinners are strangling the life out of this innings. But Kings XI keep contributing to their own downfall, following a bad display in the field with some pretty ropey dismissals. Vijay’s is the latest, chipping limply to deep midwicket. By Mitchell Johnson’s standards it’s a difficult catch, arriving as the ball does just below the fielder’s knees as he runs forward, but he simply stoops and catches and dances.
WICKET! Vijay c Bravo b Ashwin 34 (Kings XI 55-5)
Now Vijay’s gone too! He flicks the ball to midwicket, where Bravo takes the catch and launches into a dance of delight, as well he might!
9th over: Kings XI 55-4 (Vijay 34, Saha 0)
Jadeja continues, and Vijay top-edges a sweep into the air but safely down to ground and away for four. So much for the fun – three singles follow, and then Miller’s wicket. Vijay is running out of partners here.
WICKET! Miller c Raina b Jadeja 3 (Kings XI 55-4)
What a fine catch that was by Raina at leg slip! Chennai’s celebrations have started already!
What a great catch by #Raina ! Miller goes! Just six wickets away now Lions! #CSK #CSKvKXIP #whistlepodu #IdhuNammaSeason
— Chennai Super Kings (@ChennaiIPL) April 25, 2015
8th over: Kings XI 48-3 (Vijay 28, Miller 2)
Chennai double up on spin, with Ashwin coming in from the other end. It starts with four wides, the ball bouncing down leg, past Dhoni, and away. A couple of singles follow, and a run of dots. After eight overs Chennai were 81-1, over the hill and far away.
7th over: Kings XI 42-3 (Vijay 27, Miller 1)
Some spin from Jadeja, and the second ball hits Vijay’s pad. There’s a big appeal, but it might just have struck the pad outside the line. They take a leg bye, and Bailey’s out next ball.
WICKET! Bailey c Dhoni b Jadeja 1 (Kings XI 40-3)
The innings continues to unravel! This time it’s Bailey, who swings at Jadeja’s delivery as it shoots through to Dhoni’s gloves. Did he get a nick? The bowler thinks so, Dhoni thinks so, and the umpire thinks so, making it entirely irrelevant that Bailey appears to disagree.
6th over: Kings XI 39-2 (Vijay 26, Bailey 1)
Everything’s falling Chennai’s way here. Perhaps leaving Maxwell at home wasn’t such a good idea, though time alone will tell. Nehra’s three-quarters of the way through his allocation already, but he’s bowling well, his three overs so far costing 15 runs and bringing one wicket.
WICKET! Marsh lbw b Nehra 10 (Kings XI 35-2)
First ball of over six, and that looks plumb! The umpire takes a few moments to mull it over, and then the finger is raised!
5th over: Kings XI 35-1 (Vijay 23, Marsh 10)
Mohit Sharma’s first delivery of the day is pushed by Marsh off his hips and through midwicket for four, a lovely shot, perfectly timed. A two and a single later Vijay edges the last, and though it doesn’t carry to slip it’s very well fielded there, caught one-handed on the bounce.
4th over: Kings XI 28-1 (Vijay 23, Marsh 3)
Nehra continues, and the first half-over costs just one run. But Vijay likes the look of the fourth, and thwacks it back over the bowler’s head for four. A lovely start from Vijay, though it must be pointed out that Chennai were 47-0 at this point.
3rd over: Kings XI 21-1 (Vijay 18, Marsh 1)
Pandey continues, and after a Marsh single he attempts a slow-ball yorker, but it drops short and Vijay thumps over midwicket for a one-bounce four. The next is shorter, faster, and swished high over square leg for a big old six. The batsmen take a couple off the next, but then Pandey gets the slower-ball yorker right, Vijay misses it, and it flies just wide of the stumps!
2nd over: Kings XI 8-1 (Vijay 6, Marsh 0)
Nehra’s first ball is pushed through the covers for four by Vijay, a lovely shot. Then after a dot he befuddles Vijay with a slow ball, and he chips it gently upwards, the ball landing just short of Dhoni, running in from cover. Other than that boundary off the first there’s no scoring.
1st over: Kings XI 4-1 (Vijay 2, Marsh 0)
Ishwar Pandey gets us started. What Kings XI need is a big opening stand. What they get is the softest dismissal since Mr Whippy got red-carded in the 1857 FA Cup final.
WICKET! Sehwag c Du Plessis b Pandey 1 (Kings XI 4-1)
Well that’s just hopeless. It’s an absolute dolly of a catch, chipped up to mid off, where an easy catch is easily taken.
Right then. The players are back out, we’ve got a second innings on our hands. Kings XI need to score big and fast. Let’s go!
INNINGS BREAK: Kings XI require 193 to win
20th over: Chennai 192-3 (Dhoni 40, Jadeja 18)
Sandeep Sharma bowls the last, the main question being whether Chennai can clear 200. They start with three singles, but then Dhoni decides, before the ball is bowled, to sweep the fourth, and the ball is way too wide for it and he gets nothing. Another dot ball – a perfect-length yorker, just wide of the stumps – makes the 200 impossible, and the last ball is worked to cover for a single. It’s the third highest total in the IPL this season, though, so not too shabby.
19th over: Chennai 188-3 (Dhoni 39, Jadeja 16)
The Mitch is back, and Jadeja hits his first delivery high towards cow corner! It’s not got the legs to make it over the rope, but it’s safe enough. They run two, and then he flicks a full delivery over midwicket for a one-bounce four, a lovely shot from a pretty good delivery. The next goes through midwicket, along the ground this time, and though it’s stopped near the rope they run three. That leaves Dhoni on strike, and he top-edges a pull for four, and then cleanly hits a pull past square leg for another. What a day it’s been for Johnson, whose four overs yield no wickets and 40 runs.
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18th over: Chennai 171-3 (Dhoni 31, Jadeja 7)
Patel bowls, and again the first few deliveries don’t yield many runs – two singles and a two, to be precise – but then Dhoni smashes the fifth over midwicket for six. That was pretty big.
17th over: Chennai 161-3 (Dhoni 22, Jadeja 6)
Anureet continues and it’s a pretty sober over, featuring as it does four singles from the first five balls, but then Jadeja smacks the last past Marsh at point, who falls over the ball when he needed only to pick it up, and away it goes for four.
16th over: Chennai 153-3 (Dhoni 20, Jadeja 0)
Dhoni trundles down the pitch to smack the first ball of Karanveer’s over over midwicket for six, with a fielder standing right under it, on the rope, but unable to reach it. The wicket comes next ball, but there’s then two twos sandwiching a wide, before the ball is worked gently to Johnson. The fielder’s run a single, but Johnson, whose fielding today has ranged from the useless to the bizarre, throws not at the bowler’s end, nor at the wicketkeeper, but straight down the middle, gifting Chennai another run.
Updated
WICKET! Raina run out 29 (Chennai 144-2)
That’s tough luck! Dhoni, having just helped himself to a six, hits low and hard and straight. Karanveer Singh tries to stop it, but it flicks off his finger and onto the stumps at the non-striker’s end, and Dhoni is out!
15th over: Chennai 138-2 (Raina 29, Dhoni 6)
Raina hits Anureet Singh in the air and down the ground, but it drops a couple of yards short of the fielder, Vijay, who spends so long looking a bit gutted about it, rather than looking at the batsmen, that they take a second run. Raina then pulls away through midwicket for four.
14th over: Chennai 129-2 (Raina 24, Dhoni 3)
Karanveer Singh is back, and bowls well, frustrating Raina by bowling wide and slow. Eventually he gets off strike with a leg bye, after swinging at the ball, missing it, and deflecting it with his leg to backward point. Just three off the over.
13th over: Chennai 126-2 (Raina 24, Dhoni 1)
McCullum goes from the first ball of the over, but the batsmen cross and the next delivery is edged to third man by Raina, as indeed the last. And a tactical time out follows.
WICKET! McCullum c Miller b Patel 66 (Chennai 116-2)
Someone catches a ball! It’s David Miller, picked out at long off!
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12th over: Chennai 116-1 (McCullum 66, Raina 15)
Johnson gets an immediate chance to make up for his slipshod catching. Raine gets a single, and then McCullum pulls the next to long leg for four. That apart it’s a fine over – a slower ball, a yorker, the full variety pack.
11th over: Chennai 108-1 (McCullum 59, Raina 14)
Axar Patel continues, seeking to follow up on an impressive and parsimonious opening over. Raina grabs a single, and then McCullum gives himself some space and then smacks over cover for four, a shot he enjoys so much that, a dot ball later, he does it again. He takes a single, and Raina hits the final delivery over midwicket, and Mitchell Johnson drops the ball again! A harder chance this one but still not exactly hard, down on one knee near the rope, but those slippy hands can’t hold it!
10th over: Chennai 97-1 (McCullum 50, Raina 12)
The Mitch is back. There’s another wide, and a single, and then McCullum mishits but dissects the field between mid on and midwicket for four. The next he hits cleanly enough, smacking over deep square leg for six. The bowler responds with a slower ball –McCullum comes down the pitch and misses it – and a fine yorker. This match, without the 17,000-22,000 (estimates varied) children bussed in to the Wankhede earlier, is considerably easier to listen to, I must say.
9th over: Chennai 85-1 (McCullum 40, Raina 11)
Patel brings the spin, and yields just three singles, though he also adds a wide to the pot. Good over. Obviously.
8th over: Chennai 81-1 (McCullum 39, Raina 9)
Raina gets away with one here! Sandeep Sharma bowls wide, Raina gives himself some space, swishes his bat at it and edges it behind. Bowler celebrates. Wicketkeeper celebrates. Umpire Johan Cloete shakes his head. It was a very fine edge, and I’m not in the middle of a noisy stadium, but I’m pretty confident that I saw it and heard it. A couple of singles later, the same batsman helps himself to a four, worked fine past slip.
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7th over: Chennai 74-1 (McCullum 33, Raina 8)
Anureet Singh bangs one in short, and it’s missed both by McCullum and by Saha behind the stumps, the ball trundling away for five wides. A single later there’s another short ball, and another wide. The next is thumped to deep cover, where it bounces once on its way over the rope, and then another single, before McCullum mishits an attempt to thwack the final delivery back down the ground for six, but he hit it so hard it still goes back down the ground for six. The over costs 20 runs. Ouch.
6th over: Chennai 54-1 (McCullum 25, Raina 2)
Mitch comes in, and it’s a pretty ferocious, very fine over, though one bouncer goes slightly down leg side and is signalled a wide. That apart there are two singles, including one off the last when McCullum chops into the ground but wide of the stumps.
5th over: Chennai 51-1 (McCullum 24, Raina 1)
Anureet Singh bowls, and McCullum sends the first ball high, high into the air! Up and up and up it goes, then down and down and down. Mitchell Johnson’s underneath it as it returns to earth, and it falls into his hands, and then out of them again, and down to earth. There follows a long delay while the TV umpire checks to see if the ball hit the wires supporting the flying spidercam, but it didn’t. There’s no excuses, it’s just a bad drop. Still, the opening partnership is broken before the over’s done.
WICKET! Smith b Anureet Singh 26 (Chennai 50-1)
That’s tough luck! Smith, after 26 runs scored with maximum brutality from 12 balls, departs after trying to pull No13, missing it with the bat and instead diverting it off his chest, into his arms, and then back into his own stumps!
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4th over: Chennai 47-0 (Smith 26, McCullum 21)
Sharma’s second over, and McCullum works the second ball to the deep point boundary, takes a couple of deliveries to rest and then sends the next rocketing over cow corner for six. After four overs we’ve had a boundarytastic six fours and three sixes.
3rd over: Chennai 36-0 (Smith 26, McCullum 10)
Karanveer Singh continues, and Smith has some fun. The over starts with a dot ball, but then the next goes through cover for four, the one over that flies high over the bowler’s head for six, and the one after that is pummelled over long on, hard and low, for another six. The next is just about fielded at point and yields two, and the last is pulled to the midwicket boundary. What an over from Smith, 22 runs off it!
2nd over: Chennai 14-0 (Smith 4, McCullum 10)
Sharma bowls, and he immediately locates McCullum’s edge, sending the ball straight to first slip! And Kings XI have a slip as well, but he’s standing so wide he’s basically at second slip, so there’s nobody to stop the ball flying away for four. Then McCullum spears through cover for a couple, and send the next, and last, ball, over cover for a one-bounce four. Meanwhile in Grenada, this was quite a tasty catch:
1st over: Chennai 4-0 (Smith 4, McCullum 0)
An over of spin to start with, courtesy of Karanveer Singh, and Smith celebrates by thwacking the first ball of the day over cover for four. The over improves considerably from there, with some genuine turn helping the ball to zip past the bat a couple of times, and five dots following.
Chennai are yet to tweet their team, but Kings XI line up like this:
#KXIP XI: M Vijay, V Sehwag, S Marsh, G Bailey, D Miller, W Saha, A Patel, M Johnson, K Singh, Anureet Singh, Sandeep Sharma #IPL #CSKvKXIP
— Kings XI Punjab (@lionsdenkxip) April 25, 2015
You’ll notice that Maxwell’s not there. He’s been rested, apparently. Big decision, for all that he’s in poor form.
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Hello world!
I’ve literally just turned my attention from the day’s first game, and can thus tell you pretty much no more than: Chennai have won the toss and will bat first.
Simon will be here shortly. In the meantime, here’s a reminder of how Chennai fared in midweek against Royal Challengers Bangalore:
Chennai Super Kings grabbed their fourth win from five Indian Premier League matches after they beat Royal Challengers Bangalore by 27 runs at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium.
Bangalore raised some eyebrows with their team selection, after they chose to leave out Chris Gayle in order to make room for another overseas player, in this case the Australian left-arm seamer Mitchell Starc. Gayle managed only 10 runs in his last outing against Mumbai Indians but he scored 96 three days ago, so the decision to omit him – with no word about an injury to the opener – seemed strange.
The start was delayed by rain but once it started Chennai, who lost the toss, also lost a key man early on after Brendon McCullum was dismissed by spinner Yuzvendra Chahal for four runs, caught by South African youngster Rilee Rossouw.
You can read the rest by clicking here.
