Chennai win despite Dre Russ dominance

The Result: Chennai Super Kings 5-205 (Billings 56, Curran 2-39) defeated Kolkata Knight Riders 6-202 (Russell 88no, Watson 2-39) by five wickets.

The match in a tweet: Dre Russ dominates early but British Bulldog Billings bites back with match-winning half-century in quick time! Two-from-two for Chennai #CSKvKKR

The Calypso Carnage: After a promising start, quick wickets spelled trouble for the Knight Riders when they slumped to 5-89 at the halfway point of the innings. Not to worry though, Andre Russell was set to play the greatest knock by a number seven in IPL history. He nudged his way to 20 from 16 balls and then went ballistic, smashing 10 sixes in his next 20 balls - taking his tally to 11 for the match -  to post an astonishing 88no from 36 balls. The Calypso onslaught was on both sides, with Dwayne Bravo copping the full force of his one-time national teammate, conceding seven sixes from the blade of Russell, the most he has ever gone for in his 377 T20 matches.

The Top Billings: With 51 runs required from the final 24 balls and the game in the balance, it wasn’t the perfect time for the set MS Dhoni to depart, but when he edged out it was left to Sam Billings to complete the mammoth run chase and he did just that. The England batsman’s next eight balls produced a boundary and three sixes with his fifty coming from just 21 balls. He served Russell some of his own medicine with two-consecutive sixes to swing the momentum toward the Super Kings, eventually dismissed for 56 but the sole reason his side had a chance with an over to go. His match-winning innings earning him Man of the Match despite the record-breaking Russell’s performance.

The Final Over: While Ranganath Vinay Kumar had ball in hand and 17 runs to defend in the final over, at the other end was Dwayne Bravo to face just his second ball. Remarkably, Vinay Kumar served up a waist high full toss that was duly dispatched for six over backward square, the resulting free hit yielding Chennai two, with Bravo’s side effectively getting nine from the first legal delivery of the over. Vinay Kumar then somehow restricted the next four balls to singles – including one wide – to leave Bravo furious that his batting partner Ravindra Jadeja wasn’t running hard to get the West Indian back on strike. But Jadeja would strike the most telling blow on the penultimate delivery, a massive six over long-on to claim Chennai’s second-straight victory with their backs against the wall, a victory at home for the first time in more than two years.

The Aussie Pack: Kolkata’s Chris Lynn found his groove with four boundaries from just 16 deliveries, posting 22 before dancing down and losing his off-stump to Ravi Jadeja. Shane Watson contributed 42 from 19 balls including three boundaries and three sixes to kick-start Chennai’s innings, claiming 2-39 with the ball and becoming the holder of the Purple Cap for the most wickets in this year’s IPL – his tally rising to four after two matches. Mitchell Johnson was left out of the Knight Riders side in place of Tom Curran.

The Next Stop: KKR will head back to Kolkata to face Billy Stanlake and the Sunrisers Hyderabad on Sunday morning, with Chennai to take on Aaron Finch’s Kings XI Punjab in Mohali on Monday.