CLT20: Live Cricket Score of Kolkata Knight Riders vs Chennai Super Kings, Final

The 2014 Indian Premier League (IPL) champions, Kolkata Knight Riders' (KKR) were enjoying a 14-match unbeaten streak and were all set to make it a memorable double. However, just ahead of the final, they received a massive jolt - Sunil Narine was reported for chucking for a second time in as many games, which meant that he would miss out on playing in the Champions League T20 (CLT20) 2014 final against Chennai Super Kings (CSK). KKR skipper Gautam Gambhir will be hoping that his team can put the setback behind them and come out with their A-game in the title clash in Bangalore.

Chennai Super Kings had to depend on other teams' results to make the last-four stage. Led by Mahendra Singh Dhoni, the team, however, has the ability to turn it around, a quality which was evident in the semifinal against a power-packed Kings XI Punjab side. Dhoni knows the art of utilising his resources aptly, sometimes leaving rival captains too stunned by his decisions on batting and bowling combinations, besides field placements.

The indomitable CSK will have the advantage of familiarity with the conditions but the unbeaten Indian Premier League (IPL)-Champions would still be a tough nut to crack when they clash in the final at the Chinnaswamy Stadium.

Quotes:

We are working as hard as if we are on a losing streak. As long as we keep doing that, there's no reason why we can't continue like this. We have a big final and we will start on naught. We will need a big performance and I know the guys will be up for it and looking forward to it: Jacques Kallis.

CSK captain, MS Dhoni won the toss and decided to bowl first. The Super Kings were unchanged while Kolkata were forced to make one, bringing in Pat Cummins in place of Sunil Narine, who was suspended from bowling.

Teams:

Kolkata (Playing XI): Robin Uthappa(w), Gautam Gambhir(c), Jacques Kallis, Manish Pandey, Yusuf Pathan, Ryan ten Doeschate, Suryakumar Yadav, Andre Russell, Piyush Chawla, Kuldeep Yadav, Pat Cummins

Chennai (Playing XI): Dwayne Smith, Brendon McCullum, Suresh Raina, Faf du Plessis, Dwayne Bravo, MS Dhoni(w/c), Ravindra Jadeja, Pawan Negi, Ravichandran Ashwin, Ashish Nehra, Mohit Sharma

MS Dhoni: It is not a wicket that is very unknown to the Kolkata players, so it is not a big advantage. It is not really our concern (talking about Sunil Narine's absence) but at the same time he is someone who is irreplaceable. I am sure they will be looking for someone else to step up in his place. We are looking to bowl first. Looks like a good wicket. We may get a bit of dew later on. We have played here but we will have to wait and watch as to how the wicket plays.

Gautam Gambhir: Absolutely, we are thrilled (when asked about being in the final). Guys are pretty experienced in playing the finals and hopefully we will use that to our advantage. Bangalore has always been a good wicket but this one looks different. It will be interesting to bowl here. Yeah (we will miss him), but life goes on (when asked about Narine's absence). I don't think the start time will make much of a difference. I was looking to bowl first as well but now we will look to put good runs on the board.

There was some swing on offer for Ashish Nehra and he bowled testing lines to Robin Uthappa and Gautam Gambhir, the latter appearing a bit tentative in his shot-making in the opening over. in the next over, Mohit Sharma went for some runs - Uthappa struck a glorious straight drive for the first four of the match before Gambhir whipped him to the mid-wicket boundary. The 2nd over yielded 14 runs while Nehra also conceded a couple of fours in his next over - one was an inside edge off Gambhir's bat - as the openers got off to a brisk start.

R Ashwin, who was introduced in the 5th over, conceded the first six of the match when Uthappa stylishly went over the top and cleared the long-on fence. Uthappa raised the half-century stand with a superbly timed shot through extra cover off Mohit. The boundary also took Uthappa's score in T20 cricket past 4000 as Kolkata raced to 54/0 at the end of the powerplay.

Gambhir, who was getting back to form with some well-timed boundaries, would have been a goner in the 8th over. Having played a shot off Pawan Negi to the fielder at cover, the KKR skipper took off for a single after a mis-field. Negi, who ran over to collect the ball, had a shy at the stumps, with Gambhir well short. However, the bowler missed a direct hit, giving the left-handed batsman a lucky break.

Uthappa too got a reprieve as Suresh Raina missed a direct hit at the non-striker's end in the 9th over. In the same over, the right-hander deftly guided Ashwin to the third-man boundary. Chennai missed another chance in the 10th over when Uthappa lofted Ravindra Jadeja towards long-on, where Dwayne Bravo let go of the ball and it went past the ropes. Meanwhile, the openers had provided a superb platform as Kolkata moved to 89/0 after 10 overs.

Uthappa batted well for his 39 before falling to Negi in the 11th over. The right-hander came down the track and tried to hit the left-arm spinner over the top. However, he missed the ball completely and Dhoni did not make any mistakes behind the stumps. Negi could have had another wicket in the same over, had Raina not put down a catch when Jacques Kallis edged the first ball he faced to first slip. However, it was not a costly miss as Kallis, trying to go inside out over cover against Negi, mistimed it and ended up handing Nehra a catch to depart on 1.

Just before the departure of Kallis, Gambhir reached a well-compiled fifty with a boundary off Jadeja. In the 13th over, Gambhir also hopped down the track and hit the spinner towards long-on. du Plessis almost took a superb catch - he held on to the ball very close to the boundary, but before he could release the ball, he stepped on the ropes. The result was a six and this took Kolkata's score past the 100-run mark.

A couple of tight overs meant that the scoring rate dipped slightly. However, Gambhir made that up by muscling a heave over the square-leg fence and following it up with a nicely-timed cut for a four off Dwayne Bravo in the 16th over. Manish Pandey too scored a boundary, resulting in 18 runs from the over. Gambhir's outing came to an end in the following over when he tried to hit Jadeja over the top, but saw McCullum hold on to a superb catch, rushing in from long-off. He departed on 80 off 52 while Jadeja, who was bowling his final over, finished with figures of 1/25.

While the 17th over, which was bowled by Jadeja, yielded just 3 runs, KKR managed to make up for that in the next over. Pandey took the attack to Nehra, starting off with a four before hitting consecutive sixes. The pacer gave away 20 runs as KKR moved to 159/3 after 18. Pandey though had to depart in the penultimate over, giving Negi his third wicket. The right-handed heaved one across the line, but found McCullum at long on to head back on 32 off 19.

Negi's fourth wicket was Ryan ten Doeschate, who charged down the track but missed the ball completely to be out stumped. Negi was not finished yet as Suryakumar Yadav reverse-hit one to Nehra at short third-man, making the left-arm spinner the first to pick up a fifer in this edition of the CLT20. Negi became the first Indian to pick up a fifer in the CLT20 and the first bowler to pick up a five-wicket haul in the tournament final.

Yusuf Pathan managed two boundaries and a six off Nehra in the final over to lift Kolkata to a total of 180/6. Much of the edifice was built by the 91-run opening union between Gambhir and Uthappa. Negi had the latter stumped for 39, but the Kolkata skipper marched to a 52-ball 80. Negi kept chipping away at the wickets, but the cameos from Pandey and Yusuf ensured that Kolkata reached a healthy total. The dew factor made its presence felt in the latter half of the innings. Ashish Nehra bore the brunt of it, leaking 54 runs in his 4 overs.

Dwayne Smith started in a brisk fashion, scoring two fours off Pat Cummins in the opening over. However, the bowler had the last laugh as he foxed the batsman with a slower delivery. Smith, who was lining himself for a big hit, expecting a full toss, tried to adjust to the change of pace at the last moment, looking to dig the ball out. However, the ball took the bottom edge before disturbing the bails and the West Indian had to head back on 8.

Suresh Raina, who got off the mark with a streaky boundary off Cummins, came up with a exqusitive cover-drive off Cummins for a six in the 3rd over. He did even better off Andre Russell, driving one over the cover boundary for the first maximum of the innings. McCullum, who struggled a bit initially, eased the pressure with back-to-back boundaries off Kuldeep Yadav in the 5th over. The batsman got some help from the Suryakumar, who mis-fielded on both occasions. Raina then hit a big six over mid-wicket off Piyush Chawla in the 6th over to power CSK past 50 and finished the over with a six over fine leg to take the score to 60/1 at the end of the powerplay.

Kuldeep and Suryakumar managed to sneak in a couple of quiet overs, but the pressure was eased by Raina, who took the attack to Chawla again, smashing him for a big six over the bowler's head in the 9th over. In the next over, he managed an inside-out drive off Suryakumar for a boundary to bring up his 32nd T20 fifty in style. In the 11th over, which was bowled by Pathan, McCullum hit one in the air towards mid-wicket, where Cummins touched the ropes while trying to take a catch. The six brought up Chennai's 100. Raina then hit Suryakumar for back-to-back fours in the next over to bring up the century stand.

The big hits continued to flow off Raina's bat and the left-hander smashed Kuldeep for two sixes in the 13th over to power Chennai. The bowler was unlucky though as Uthappa missed a stumping chance in the same over. In the next over, Kolkata finally managed to end the partnership, which was worth 118 runs. McCullum, trying to hit a Pathan delivery across the line, found ten Doeschate to depart on 39.

Raina, who hit his 7th six in the 15th over off Kuldeep, had another lucky break in the next over. He got a leading edge off Pathan, who dived full length but the ball popped out of the bowler's hand in the end. Raina, made it count as he hit a four off Cummins in the 17th over, took a single off him and also took a single off Chawla in the next over to become the first Indian to register a ton in the CLT20. Raina managed his eight maximum off Chawla in the 18th over before Dhoni again finished things off in style with two sixes off Pathan.

It was a comprehensive victory for Chennai in the end. A terrific knock from Raina saw them through. 181 wasn't an easy target on this pitch, but Raina made it look so simple with a stunning innings. The fact that some of his sixes went in the V . The eight-wicket win meant that CSK ended their barren run of silver-ware since 2011 and clinched the CLT20 title for the 2nd time.