Kolkata Knight Riders ride to victory

Finally the Delhi Lease & Finance Limited Indian Premier League (DLF IPL) 5 ended last night with the Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) being crowned the new champs.

This season was marred by controversies including the ugly allegations of spot-fixing after a sting operation resulting in suspension of a few players. But for the Knight Riders, that would hardly seem relevant as they took the Cup with much aplomb and passion.

And it only seems fair that the Knight Riders were the winners for the defending champions, Chennai Super Kings (CSK), who were making their third straight appearance in the final of the IPL, had to rely on a few results going their way to even make it to the play-offs.

From there, the fact that they beat two of the strongest IPL teams to reach the final is a different story altogether.

Chennai, batting first, posted a decent score after Suresh Raina found his feet to thrash the KKR attack all around the park. He was building on a solid foundation, laid down by Hussey and Vijay, and was particularly severe on Sunil Narine, the best spin bowler of the tournament.

The target of 191 became even more daunting for KKR when Gambhir, their captain and the most consistent batsman, flopped, being bowled in the very first over of the chase.

But, KKR found a new savior in Bisla. Bisla made mockery of his previous T20 stats, smacking the ball with a new wave of enthusiasm. He came down the pitch, ball after ball, to smash them over the extra cover boundary. Kallis played the perfect foil for him and their 136 run partnership made sure the chase was on track.

[[http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_x6GZZvMQXs]]

The match swung a bit towards the Super Kings when Kallis departed, with KKR needing 16 of seven balls, but Shakib and Tiwary made sure that title came home, sparking wild celebrations.

The victory for KKR was even sweeter in my opinion as, though, their two best players of the tournament, Narine and Gambhir, failed to have an impact in the final, others put up their hand and made sure they didn’t stumble at the last hurdle.

Winning the Cup completed a remarkable turnaround for KKR, who had to revamp their whole side last season after not being able to reach the play-offs in the first three seasons. They lost in the play-off last year but this year they made sure the title would be theirs.

Now, let’s see if the Champions League Twenty20 (CLT20) title this year has their name on it as well.

CSK has been the most consistent side of the IPL for over five years, reaching four finals. If they get their act right from the start, they will be a force to be reckoned with in the CLT20.

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