So there you have it. Cracking finish to the opening IPL4 clash. Dhoni's slightly bizarre captaincy nearly gave Kolkata the win at the death, but Southee's brilliant death bowling secured the win. Just the 73 matches to go.
CHENNAI WIN BY TWO RUNS!
19.6 Southee bowls his third yorker in a row. Right on the money and Abdulla can't do a thing with it bar run a leg bye.
19.5 Another full one. Abdulla can only dig it out for a single to point. Conference time for Dhoni x2! Four needed to win.
19.4 Full from Southee, angling away and it goes through to Dhoni. Cracking delivery. Five from two.
19.3 Abdulla pulls, slightly miscues but it's in the gap and another two. Five from three.
19.2 WICKET! Shukla slashes a cut. It's too wide for that and it lands straight to Styris on the boundary. Madness! Seven needed off four.
19.1. Shukla attempts what can only be described as a scoop off Southee and they scamper for two.
OVER 19. Kolkata 145/6
Why change a double-wicket taker? Raina is off and Randiv, a proper spinner in reality, bowls the penultimate over. Shukla starts with four. A huge reverse sweep. Nothing sexy about it. He just waits and whacks it. Tiwary then comes to the party! A fuller ball sees Tiwary somehow get underneath it for an almighty six. He repeats the feat next delivery for good measure! It's 4,1,6,6,0... before...
Tiwary goes for one hit too many with an ugly swipe. Dhoni wipes off the bails. KKR NEED NINE TO WIN
OVER 18. Kolkata 128/5
Dhoni's next trick is to bring Southee back on, who isn't the worst at the death. KKR are all over the place. Panic striken perhaps? Southee bowls to order before Shukla finds an exceedingly streaky four and it's seven from the over. KKR need 26 off 12.
OVER 17. Kolkata 120/5
So, a pivotal over for CSK. Sound captaincy too. Raina brings two wickets to the party and the match has swung Chennai's way.
The match-changer. The IPL's most expensive player just can't run between the wickets and lasts two balls coming in at No 6. He goes for a second and is miles out of his crease.
Here's Raina. Outstanding batsman, great fielder. And now turning it at the death for CSK. And what captaincy from Dhoni as Morgan loses his usually steady head by advancing down the wicket and Dhoni whips the bails off.
OVER 16. Kolkata 118/3
Morgan shows his nous with a nifty two, worked neatly into the legside. And to enhance his Wisden Cricketer of the year credentials, Morgan then latches onto Ashwin for his first four. Timing! If anyone can finish it...
Kallis gets it horribly wrong as his attempted paddle sweep tickles straight to Badrinath close in. Forty odd off five overs. Still anyone's game. But here comes the English charge - Eoin Morgan.
OVER 15. Kolkata 111/2
Morkel back on and Tiwary is true to form straight away with a cross-batted slap four. Both KKR batsmen are looking uber-confident out there. Morkel certainly is not. A wide ensues before Tiwary carves one to cover but it's a great stop by a sprawling Raina.
OVER 14. Kolkata 101/2
A Kallis single, another half-century from the South African. Off 37 balls too. Tiwary, a rising talent in the Indian ranks, has clearly been given a bit of license to open his shoulders but Jakati is bowling well and yields only five singles. Level-pegging this one. Gautam Gambhir, the most expensive IPL player, still in the shed.
OVER 13. Kolkata 95/2
Could this be another "CitiBank moment of success" asks Ravi, as Pathan attempts to go aerial once more. His foot slides out of the crease as Dhoni flicks the bails off. Huge appeal and Dhoni looks confident. However It's a tight one but Pathan just survives. But then... a moment of pure class.
Ooohh, that is Twenty20 entertainment. Kallis prods to short square leg and sets off. Dhoni scrambles after it like a caged tiger, takes his glove off, picks up and swivels with one stump to aim at. Direct hit! Brilliant. Pathan yards out.
OVER 12. Kolkata 91/1
There is absolutely no question that Pathan is setting himself up every delivery here but Ashwin is in tune to my senses. Just the three from it.
OVER 11. Kolkata 88/1
Pathan has waited three deliveries and has seen enough. Jakati hits against the spin and launches a huge one way, way over long on for SIX. Sensible therafter with a few singles. That's all they need to do. But Kallis doesn't miss out with a rank last ball from Jakati that the South African sends to the cover boundary for four. Kallis 46* Pathan 9*
OVER 10. Kolkata 76/1
Morkel on. Pathan joining Kallis. We're set for fireworks. Morkel quells the Catherine Wheel for now, taking the pace off the ball with four singles until Kallis sets himself and plants Morkel's penultimate delivery just... just over cover for four. It's successive fours - the hotel drink tonight will be a lively one - as Kallis times brilliantly for another boundary.
OVER 9. Kolkata 64/1
Yousuf Pathan, KKR's $2m man, is the new man and Dhoni goes on the attack with a gully and two slips. Such confidence! He survives the last ball and that's the Time Out. Prediction? After that last turning over CSK might be slight favourites.
No mistake from Dhoni this time as Bisla skips a couple of paces and the CSK skipper makes sure of the stumping after his earler miss. It's turning out there and CSK are right back in this one.
OVER 8. Kolkata 60/0
The KKR innings is mirroring the CSK one as the two spinners slow proceedings down. It will, though, kick off at any point I'm sure. Randiv balls another tight one, three singles from it.
OVER 7. Kolkata 56/0
Shadab Jakati is into the attack, so that's two bowlers on who I really can't tell you anything about. Four singles and it passes in a blur. The CSK dancers are on.
OVER 6. Kolkata 52/0
Randiv is into the attack and the fast outfield is there for all to see as Bisla gives himself heaps of room on the leg and cuts majestically, almost guiding it, to backward point for four. But what's this! Bisla dances down the track and India's Mr Cool, MS Dhoni, misses an easy stumping. A nation, okay Chennai, goes quiet in disbelief. The 50 comes up off 34 balls with a wide and that's the end of a pretty scrappy, but flighty over.
OVER 5. Kolkata 44/0
Kallis and Bisla are picking off Ashwin and Southee with utter ease. No dramas in Ashwin's second over and it's a slightly more sedate five from it.
OVER 4. Kolkata 39/0
That's Kallis! Not a bad ball at all by Southee but Kallis hits it on the up through point for four. We have seen that stroke on many an occasion. Next up, it's a bouncer for a pulled four. Southee can't find his rhythm and Kallis whips a fuller one for four off his legs. Three in a row. Strike rate 183.
OVER 3. Kolkata 25/0
The functional, sporadic captaincy of Dhoni continues with an immediate change. Ashwin replaces Morkel. A bit of spin from Ashwin. I can tell cos he turns one too much and it's five wides down the leg. Bismarck Bisla is on the money again with four more to the leg. Sound start from KKR.
OVER 2. Kolkata 14/0
Tim Southee is into the attack and continues where he left off in the CWC where he was named 12th man (!) in the ICC's team of the tournament. I reckon this lads got a good future in the international game. And he's on the mark, yielding just four from his opening over.
OVER 1. Kolkata 10/0
Bisla? Bismarck more like. The opener is out of his crease and slaps Morkel to the leg for four. A single ensues which brings Kallis on strike - no rest in this game is there? - and the South African atones for his dismal last over by glancing Morkel for four more.
So what did we learn from CSK's innings? That India's young brigage a riding a wave of joy currently being experienced by the World Cup-winning team. Anirudha's was pure class for a 23 year-old.
KOLKATA NEED 154 TO WIN
OVER 20. Chennai 153/4
Kallis starts with a low full toss and Morkel is down on one knee looking to plant his first ball over cover. Lovely regal stroke Albie but it finds the fielder. The wicket then leaves CSK looking short of 150 but ... Fireworks! Scotty Styris musters four to square leg first up before digging out a pacey yorker for a single. Morkel then plants 4,6 off the final two balls in contrasting style. A firm, ever-so-straight drive and what can only be described as a quite massive SIX over long on. Poor end from Kallis. Morkel will remind him of that back at the hotel tonight.
Kallis is rewarded. An inswinging yorker catches Anirudha on the pads before deflecting onto the stumps. End of a blazing innings from Anirudha. One to watch in this IPL for sure. Especially when your dad is referred to as the 'Indiana Jones of Indian cricket'.
OVER 19. Chennai 137/3
Balaji mirrors Kallis with an over of varying pace. A few slower bouncers, a couple of full ones. And it's working too! Who says spin is necessary in the IPL when you get your line right? Only five from it as a rapidly-tiring Anirudha can only find the boundary fielders.
OVER 18. Chennai 132/3
Kallis is right on the money. Length spot on. Key wicket, five from it.
Ol' wise head Kallis deceives the CSK skipper with a slow bouncer and the man of the moment - not out since his thrilling knock in Mumbai - can only top edge with an attempted heave back to the Wankhede.
OVER 17. Chennai 127/2
Anirudha is now beginning to swing at anything, toss the caber style. Balaji is mixing it up with every ball but the CSK pair are wise to the field placings with a series of guided pulls and dilligent cuts.
OVER 16. Chennai 121/2
What wrists Sir Dhoni. The CSK skipper launches into Ladda and it is a huge six. How far has that gone? 110, 120 metres back? Srikkanth then follows that belligerent act with an over the ropes six to square leg. That's 15 off the over and runs are coming like a freshly-landed, bathroom-ridden England squad.
OVER 15. Chennai 107/2
A fine, fine innings from Srikkanth. He brings up 50 from 43 balls (six 4s, one 6) and is content to take the single to bring his skipper on strike. Dhoni carries on from his 91* in Mumbai too. He dismisses an Abdulla full toss with a nonchalent "don't bowl that nonsense to a World Cup winner". It results in a slapped four past the bowler.
OVER 14. Chennai 98/2
Also expecting fireworks, of sorts, on Sunday when Mumbai travel to Delhi. Just been informed that Andrew Symonds and Harbhajan Singh are both in the Mumbai side. Will it be water under the bridge? Back in Chennai and Sarabjit Ladda produces a brilliant over, just three runs off it. You need spin in IPL and Ladda has just shown why. Still, Dhoni has still to open up.
OVER 13. Chennai 90/2
Iqbal Abdulla is back on and it's a tidy one too. Five singles as the CSK (Chennai not Moscow) pair try to open their shoulders. Am expecting fireworks shortly such is the hosts' batting strength.
OVER 12. Chennai 90/2
Here's Dhoni. Cue hysteria. Despite everything going off around him, Dhoni is Mr Cool personified with a punched single to cover. Just too easy. Anirudha then waits on a Bhatia wide one and he gently helps it to fine leg for four.
OVER 11. Chennai 83/2
As Robin Jackman said on comms, KKR "couldn't catch a cold tonight" as their third one goes down. This time it's Eoin Morgan out in the deep as Anirudha skies one to midwicket. But Pathan (who's dropped two himself, not too bad for someone who cost over $2m, eh?) finally breaks through with his next delivery.
OVER 10. Chennai 78/1
CSK Partnership currently 73 off 54 balls. Frenetic stuff, currently feel like a gazelle being stalked by a lion after 10 overs, but we'll get to the allotted 20 somehow. Another over of six singles should suffice.
OVER 9. Chennai 72/1
Strategy over. Balaji has been handed a second over and CSK muster nine from it. When you've just dropped one of the IPL's stars, you're likely to get punished. And Raina looks in dashing form with another one bounce four to extra cover. Marvellous shot.
OVER 8. Chennai 63/1
Bhatia - extremely long run-up; Ian Austin mannerisms - is a wily campaigner and he manages to slow things down considerably. Six singles off that one. 'Stategic timeout' taken. (Yup, me too. Will get back to you on that one) Raina 22* Anirudha 35*
OVER 7. Chennai 57/1
Forget all the sons of former County cricketers - Topley, Wells etc - playing today. Anirudha's old man is Kris Srikkanth, the former Indian opener. Cricinfo describe him as the 'Indiana Jones of Indian cricket'. Well what about his son! Srikkanth jnr is currently 32 off 21 balls and blazing it. And he bludgeons the first SIX of IPL4 too. A more than handy start from defending champs Chennai.
OVER 6. Chennai 45/1
Right, last over of fielding restrictions and Anirudha is fully aware as a tanned-up Kallis enters the fray. And doesn't Anirudha like the off-side! Short, wide and a flashing blade outside the off stump sees 4,0,4,4 off the first four deliveries. Hands on hips from the South African. Carnage. Anyone know Srikkanth Anirudha's career?
OVER 5. Chennai 31/1
My sentiments on the IPL jumble auction comes to fruition. L Balaji used to play for Chennai until last year. Now he's gone across to Kolkata. He was in my IPL dream team once upon time too. Anyway, the slick-backed medium pacer is on and Raina is onto him in a flash, swivelling to a slow bouncer for a pulled four. And then, dropped! And it's Yusuf! Raina survives a miscued on-drive.
OVER 4. Chennai 26/1
Anirudha is from the Dhoni school of thought. Spin isn't working for the Riders as Pathan bowls straight and full. Anirudha slaps it back, with no foot movement, over Pathan's head for a one bounce boundary. Oh Yusuf! He puts down a sitter caught and bowled chance for good measure.
OVER 3. Chennai 19/1
Lots of dancing feet out there as Raina tries to cut loose. But it's not happening thus far. 12 off the first two overs? Pah, bring back the 50-over game. Abdulla then bowls a tad too full and Anirudha is onto it. Through the covers. Four. Wristy stuff. (Note: will try and give more info on the unknown Indians like Anirudha as we progress).
OVER 2. Chennai 11/1
The irrepressible Suresh Raina, leading run-scorer in the IPL, is the new man and Yusuf Pathan is too wide. Four! Lovely feet, moving to leg and lifting it to the cover boundary.
OVER 1. Chennai 5/1
Umps Billy Doctrove has a mic linked up to the main tannoy and is loving it. "Batsman are you ready?" "Bowler are you ready?" "Skipper are you ready?" "Chennnnaii are you ready?" Left-hand spinner Iqbal Abdulla is in and Vijay plants an on-drive down the ground for four. Huge bottom hand on that and it comfortably beats the man on long-on boundary who only moved a matter of feet.
15.29: since lifting the World Cup Dhoni has, on the top of my head, had.. a road named after him in his village, earned an extra $500k from the BCCI and other sources, can travel for free for life on Indian Railways, been made an honorary member of the Indian army... and now here he is in front of 50,000 home fans, who are going absolutely bonkers in his presence.
15.25: Dhoni can't do much wrong. He wins the toss and Chennai will bat first...
15.20: to be honest I have been trying to get to grips with the new rules and changes to this year's format. Was the jumble auction a good thing? Do fans have an association with their teams after each franchise's contracts were scrapped? One thing's for sure, Indians will still lap up supporting their local team.
15.10: as is the norm, there has been a pretty expansive opening ceremony in Chennai. All the franchise captains are in attendance, the IPL cheerleaders are working the crowd, that man Ravi Shastri is on the mic, there are the usual speeches from chiefs and commissioners, and Shah Rukh Khan, Kolkata's owner, is performing some of his Bollywood hits. Ravi is definitely not showing his 'after the Lord Mayor's show' mindset.
14.50: Saturation? What saturation? Admit it, you can't get enough of India's World Cup win can you? Tonight's match will be the first of 74, with one or two being played every day until the final on May 28 in Chennai. Then, a mere four days later, the Twenty20 Cup starts in England. ARE YOU READY FOR SOME TWENTY 20? I SAID ARE...
14.30: Welcome to coverage of the opening match of IPL4 (or 'Summer Slam' if you are an avid watcher of rolling 24hr news channels in India).
Now, I know we all want to be kicking back with the Southampton Echo and sunning ourselves down at the Rose Bowl for the opening day of the County season. But what you're really after is some explosive batting from messrs Dhoni and Gambhir - two World Cup winners and opposing skippers tonight - loadsa fireworks and Bollywood legends shaking their thing and waving their franchise flags. Right?
14.20: there has been some tinkering to this year's sub-continent slogfest. In brief, there are now 10 teams [Sahara Pune Warrirors and Kochi Tuskers have joined the fun] with two groups of five. Unsurprisingly, there has been the usual haggling (Lalit Modi-less) over the format with burn-out fears as well as fan interest at heart. (Good overview of the changes and franchise contract rulings can be found here.)
IPL preamble ...
So what have we got here? Well, two of the strongest teams for starters.
I do like the look of the Knight Riders' squad. The IPL's perennial under-achievers were exceedingly lavish in January's auction and opted for a complete overhaul of their squad under the IPL's new rules.
They paid the two biggest fees to secure skipper Gautam Gambhir for a record $2.4million and Yusuf Pathan ($2.1m) and assemble arguably the strongest batting line-up. Gambhir was a little shabby for Delhi Daredevils last year, but when you've just won a World Cup...
Add Eoin Morgan, Essex's Ryan ten Doeschate, Jacques Kallis and Brad Haddin to the fray and there should be a lot of bowlers looking skywards. On the bowling front they have Tim Southee and Nuwan Kulasekara, two who could revel in Twenty20 conditions.
Meanwhile the Super Kings were one of just two franchises, along with beaten finalist the Mumbai Indians, to retain the four players they were allowed to under IPL rules, as they sought to keep the core of their successful side.
That means India skipper MS Dhoni remains at the MA Chidambaram Stadium along with fellow World Cup winner Suresh Raina, Murali Vijay and Albie Morkel.
CHENNAI SUPER KINGS
Key batsmen: Suresh Raina, Mike Hussey, Mahendra Singh Dhoni, Scott Styris, Dwayne Bravo
Key bowlers: Doug Bollinger, Ben Hilfenhaus, Albie Morkel
English players: None
Best: Winners, 2010
Last year: Winners
Chances: Have retained the backbone of last year's winning squad, including captain Dhoni, whose presence will ensure strong Indian support. Batting depth should take them to the semi-finals at the very least.
KOLKATA KNIGHT RIDERS
Key batsmen: Gautam Gambhir, Eoin Morgan, Jacques Kallis, Yusuf Pathan, Brad Haddin
Key bowlers: Brett Lee, Shakib Al Hasan
English players: Eoin Morgan
Best: Sixth 2008, 2010
Last year: Sixth (did not progress)
Chances: The IPL's perennial under-achievers appear to have invested wisely, with stars like Gambhir and Kallis augmented by shrewd buys in Morgan and Shakib. With Lee on fire following the World Cup, could be an outside bet for a surprise final place.
