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Kochi Tuskers Kerala produced another majestic performance, this time in front of a very appreciative home crowd to defeat the reigning champions Chennai Super Kings by 7 wickets in a rain affected match that was reduced to 17 overs a side. Chennai failed to post a competitive total despite Suresh Raina scoring a half century, setting Kochi an easy target of 135 to win. Kochi were always comfortable chasing the score down with Brendon McCullum top scoring with 47 and each batsman getting into double figures. Brad Hodge (19*) and Ravindra Jadeja (16*) took the IPL newcomers across the finish line with 2 full overs to spare.

It was a battle of the giants from the south with Kochi Tuskers Kerala clashing with the Chennai Super Kings at the Nehru Stadium in Kochi. The Tuskers stuck with the same side that upstaged Sachin's marvelous hundred at the Wankhade while Chennai made space to fit in a fit again Doug Bollinger with the unfortunate Suraj Randiv having to make way. There was some confusion at the toss but it was Mahela Jayawardene who won it and decided to bowl first having chased a huge total against the Mumbai Indians.

Michael Hussey, Man of the Match in Chennai’s last game, opened his account with a couple of boundaries off RP Singh in the first over of the game. Vinay Kumar started brilliantly at the other end, conceding just 1 run off his opening over. Hussey's perfect start to Season 4 was brought to a crashing halt for just 8 in the next over when edged one from RP Singh to Parthiv Patel, the former Purple Cap holder showing that he still is very good at picking up early wickets. Suresh Raina, in at no.3, struggled a bit to find his timing. But Murali Vijay, after a solid knock at Mohali, was looking very good smashing the ball twice to the ropes off RP Singh and then meeting out the same treatment to former Chennai allrounder Thisara Perera. Chennai made their way to 42/1 at the end of the powerplay and looked to be on course for a good score.

The second wicket partnership was starting to look dangerous, but after another good start Vijay threw his wicket away, missing a full delivery from Perera to fall leg before for a brisk 28 off just 18 balls. After Vijay’s departure Raina took on the responsibility to hit the boundaries. The sky had threatened to open all evening and the rain eventually got heavy forcing the umpires to stop play temporarily after the 9th over. The rain finally stopped and play eventually resumed after an hour's delay with the match shortened to 17 overs each.

Raina got a boundary with a French cut the first ball after play resumed but with run scoring became tougher after the interval with Chennai barely managing to keep up a 7 an over rate. Subramanium Badrinath fell for 19 (17b) attempting to accelerate and his dismissal brought Captain Fantastic Dhoni to the crease. Gomez, who picked up the wicket of Badri was dispatched for a six and a four on consecutive deliveries as Chennai brought up their 100 in the 14th over.

RP Singh came back strongly for Kochi, bowling a brilliant 15^th over conceding just 2 runs to arguably India's best T20 pair. Raina was runout just after reaching 50 (40b), trying to sneak a bye to the keeper and when Albie Morkel came out to join Dhoni, the skipper had scored just 1 run from 6 balls. Dhoni picked up a boundary off Perera in the penultimate over to take Chennai to 117/4 from 16. Chennai needed to finish well and they got 14 from the final over as an unfortunate Ravindra Jadeja was tossed the ball having not bowled at all in the innings thus far. Morkel and Dhoni hit him for a 6 each to take the score to 131, which was revised to 134 by Duckworth-Lewis. Despite the bonus runs in the final over, Kochi would have fancied their chances of making 8 an over in a shortened game.

Kochi started with their star studded opening pair of Brendon McCullum and Mahela Jayawardene again and after watching two balls go past his bat, McCullum came down the pitch and smashed a six straight over Albie Morkel’s head. Doug Bollinger, playing his first game of the season, started brilliantly conceding just 2 off his first over. McCullum attacked Morkel once again in third over, getting exactly the same result, while Mahela Jayawardene declared his intentions by welcoming Ravichandaran Ashwin with a six over long on. He followed that up with a boundary but was third time unlucky managing just a a top edge to fall for an 11-ball 16. The Tuskers though were well on course for a win having scored 40 runs in the first 5 overs.

Parthiv Patel smashed two boundaries off Tim Southee’s first over. The 50 run mark was breached in the 7^th over and Chennai had no answer to the Tusker assault. McCullum hit another monstrous six, this time off Shadab Jakati and the Kochi juggernaut powered on as Patel and McCullum targeted Southee again taking 15 runs off his second over. With the required run rate down to just 7, the match was getting away from Chennai and it was time for Dhoni to pull a rabbit out of his helmet. Ashwin got his skipper the breakthrough as McCullum went to the well once too many times, holing out at long off for a well deserved 47.

Parthiv Patel responded to McCullum's dismissal with his first maximum of the night as the required rate kept tumbling. Chennai got a glimmer of hope when Patel (34) pulled Bollinger straight down the throat of square leg. With 25 required off 24, it was the Tuskers who held the upper hand but things could have changed with another wicket but Brad Hodge had other plans as he clipped Southee off his legs to take Kochi ever closer. Ravindra Jadeja Version 4.0 smashed the first ball he faced into the crowds to end any hope of a Chennai comeback. And then hit another six to take Kochi home with two overs to spare.

Kochi with wins over the two title contenders, Mumbai Indians and Chennai Super Kings, are looking good and with McCullum and Jayawardene in form other teams will have to be wary of them. They have moved into top 4 knocking Chennai out from fourth place and will next be eyeing another big scalp when they take on table topping Kolkata Knight Riders on Wednesday.

Chennai Super Kings have had a mixed start to the tournament having won 2 out of 4 with one of their winning margins being just 2 runs. With the toss deciding the outcome of so many IPL games this season, the Indian skipper might need to sharpen his calling skills before they take on the Mumbai Indians at Wankhede Stadium on Friday.

Teams:

Kochi Tuskers Kerala: BB McCullum, DPMD Jayawardene (c), RA Jadeja, BJ Hodge, KM Jadhav, PA Patel (wk), NLTC Perera, RV Gomez, R Vinay Kumar, RP Singh, RR Powar

Chennai Super Kings: M Vijay, MEK Hussey, S Anirudha, S Badrinath, SK Raina, MS Dhoni (c&wk), JA Morkel, R Ashwin, SB Jakati, TG Southee, DE Bollinger

Mini Scorecard:

Chennai Super Kings 131/4 in17 overs (7.7 runs per over)
S Raina 50(40) R Gomez 1-20
M Vijay 28(18) RP Singh 1-24

Kochi Tuskers 135/3 in 15 overs (9 runs per over)
B McCullum   47(33)    R Ashwin   2-31
P Patel    34(26)   D Bollinger   1-18

Kochi Tuskers won by 7 wickets with 2 overs to spare