NEW DELHI:Defying all odds, Kolkata Knight Riders have claimed the IPL 2012 title , for the first time putting a full stop to the hatrick win of Chennai Super Kings.
Kolkata Knight Riders won the match comprehensively riding on the backs of Bisla and Kallis, both scoring wonderful half centuries. Chasing 191-run target, Kolkata Knight Riders lost Manvinder Bisla (89) after he added 136-run stand with Jacques Kallis to lead the run chase against Chennai Super Kings in the final match of Indian Premier League fifth season at MA Chidambaram stadium on Sunday.
After losing skipper Gautam Gambhir (2) early, Bisla slammed 27-ball fifty to resurrect Kolkata chase.
Bisla put on quick 100-run stand with Jacques Kallis as they took Kolkata over 100 runs in just 9.5 overs.
Chasing 191-run target, Kolkata lost skipper Gautam Gambhir (2) early in the first over against Chennai.
Pacer Ben Hilfenhaus struck in the first over to give Chennai an early breakthrough and reduced Kolkata to 3/1.
The moment Manoj Tiwary hit Dwayne Bravo to the square leg boundary for the second successive boundary, the delirious KKR players were all into the ground as their principal owner Shah Rukh was engaged in a frenzied celebrations.
The day however belonged to Bisla wasn’t supposed to play this match had Laxmipathy Balaji not suffered hamstring injury. The decision to drop Brendon McCullum was widely debated but the lad from Himachal Pradesh put all the speculation to rest as he emerged as an unlikely hero among the galaxy of stars.
Despite losing Gautam Gambhir early, Bisla played a blinder as he took on the CSK attack by the scruff of their neck. Four boundaries of an Albie Morkel over set the tone and couple of clean sixes of Ravichandran Ashwin meant that the Knights were certainly there in the match. The best part was that Bisla-Kallis duo saw Ben Hilfenhaus’ first spell without taking any risks and then launched into the other bowlers.
The Delhi Daredevils, Kolkata Knight Riders, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings qualified for the playoffs. The final of the season was played at the Chepauk Stadium on 27 May, where the defending champions Chennai Super Kings played against Kolkata Knight Riders.
This edition of the IPL was the most competitive with 14 matches producing results in the last over, and a couple in the last ball.
There were a galaxy of former Indian cricketers in attendance, the brightest lights from Bollywood were in the stands, both teams had some of the biggest stars in the world game but the headlining performance came from little-known Manvinder Bisla as Kolkata Knight Riders prised the IPL trophy out of Chennai Super Kings’ hands. Bisla, who was without a Ranji Trophy side last season, made a mockery of his previous career Twenty20 strike-rate of 106 to play a jack-in-the-box innings that helped overhaul what had seemed a mountainous Super Kings total.
Meanwhile, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee congratulated Kolkata Knight Riders team for winning IPL title for the first time beating two-time champion Chennai Super Kings in final by five wickets.
“I’m happy over the victory of KKR. All the teams played well. In a game, there is victory and defeat. I congratulate KKR team specially for winning the title,” she told. Shahrukh, co-owner of KKR, is the brand ambassador of West Bengal and the victory of his team has been all the more heartening, she said.
Accompanied by Shahrukh from state secretariat of Writers’ Buildings, she went to the Eden Gardens to watch the first match of KKR against Delhi Daredevils on May 5.
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