Super Kings' Night Out Against Knight Riders

Chahar, Harbhajan and Tahir set up an emphatic win for the hosts; Russell wages a lone battle for the Kolkata side

- S. Dipak Ragav

Kolkata Knight Riders had three matches of footage and a skipper from Chennai to learn from on how to play on a slow-turning Chepauk wicket. But its top-order batsmen, in their infinite wisdom, decided that playing across the line was a prudent strategy.

The result: the visitors were reduced to 108 for nine and Chennai Super Kings chased it down with ease, to go to the top of the table, at the M.A. Chidambaram Stadium here on Tuesday. This was Super Kings’ fourth win in as many matches at home in IPL-12.

Poor shot selection

Asked to take strike, KKR lost its way right in the first over. Deepak Chahar trapped Chris Lynn leg-before when the batsman tried to pull a length delivery. Nitish Rana and Robin Uthappa then fell to similar shots, both caught while pulling the seamer and finding the fielder.

Skipper Dinesh Karthik looked comfortable during his brief stay, but the first time he attempted to play across resulted in his downfall. He hit Imran Tahir to short mid-wicket where Harbhajan Singh pulled offa smart, reflex catch.

On a wicket where the ball was holding up, the top-order had imploded and the visitors were tottering at 29 for four after the PowerPlay, with Chahar picking up three.

Tahir then foxed Shubman Gill with a googly, the batsman over-balancing and Dhoni doing the rest.