The 2015 Pepsi Indian Premier League (IPL) has now reached the halfway stage of the qualifying process, and while Chennai Super Kings who head the rankings with 12 points and the Rajasthan Royals who are in second with 11 points, and looking impressive, and very likely to progress to the knockout stages, they other two places are very much up for grabs.
on Thursday at Eden Park in Kolkata, the Knight Riders who head the chasing pack with seven points from their seven matches, entertain the Super Kings in a vital qualification contest.
On Tuesday the Champions had missed an opportunity to close the gap on Chennai and to heap the pressure on the top two, when they were defeated by just two runs, in a match they looked to have tied up, halfway through their run chase.
The Knight Riders had restricted the star studded Chennai batting line up to a mere 134 for 6 in their 20 overs at the MA Chidambaram Stadium, Chepauk, Chennai. Faf du Plessis top scored with 29 not out from the 29 deliveries that he faced.
However, the visitors contrived to somehow give up a winning position of 52 for 1 after five overs, finished two runs short of their hosts score, on 132 for 9 at the end of their allotted overs. If Kolkata want to turn the result around on Thursday, then they have to cut out the ridiculous shot selection, which combined with some excellent out cricket by the Super Kings contrived to settle the outcome on Tuesday.
Given the damage caused by the Chennai spinners; Ashwin, Jadeja and Raina, who conceded a total of just 28 runs in the 8 overs they bowled, with Sunil Narine in their side, perhaps Kolkata would have restricted Chennai even further, and claimed the points. However, that is another case of ifs, buts and maybes. The reality is that the Super Kings proved once more as a team that is rammed with talent that can win matches in all sorts of circumstance.