Has Chennai taken over Kolkata

Well in this edition of the tournament, the Chennai Super Kings are showing a down to earth performance with them losing the plot in the matches they played. They had a lucky run against the Kolkata Knight Riders where they secured a 2 run victory over the trouble torn team lacking in confidence but are seem to be coming up in this edition. That was followed by a win against the Royal Challengers Bangalore and a loss to Kings XI Punjab. The Chennai Super Kings could not defend a total of 188 against the Punjab team. This time it was Kochi who tamed Chennai.

Though the match was trimmed to just 17 overs, a total of 131 by the Chennai Super Kings was below par compared to what was expected off them. The run-rate of the Chennai Super Kings happened to be just over 7.0 runs an over when something less than 9 runs an over is just unacceptable. But, this should have been a winning total keeping in mind the winning record of the Chennai Super Kings in the three editions they have played so far. At the end of the day, the Chennai Super Kings had another loss to their kitty which was a mess.

On the other hand, the Kochi Tuskers Kerala maintained a run-rate of exactly 9.0 runs an over aided by a series of double figure scores starting from 47 by Brendon McCullum and ending with Ravindra Jadeja remaining unbeaten on 16 from six balls with two sixes. As a rarity, the team work of both Chennai and Kochi stands undisputed for, regarding both the teams out there, it was not a one man show like it happens in most games. There was only one lucky player in Suresh Raina who scored a half century. But, as a suggestion, it would have been wise for Chennai to go for big ones.

As it goes in a T20 game, if the match is viewed from the number of sixes scored perspective, then still the Chennai Super Kings lose it all with their batsmen being able to make it only on three occasions. Instead, the Kochi Tuskers had more than twice of what the Chennai team could manage when they had 7 hits out of the ground. But, needless to be said, it is the target which needs to be defended or chased that would a decide who the winner of the match is. Towards the end of the post, one thing that needs to be asked after Chennai's 2^nd loss is whether Chennai have taken over from Kolkata?