Kolkata team beat defending champions Chennai to win the IPL 20 overs cricket title

Chennai, May 28 (PTI) Kolkata Knight Riders (KKR) team became the new champions of the Indian Premier League 20 overs limited cricket tournament as they defeated defending champions Chennai Super Kings (CSK) by five wickets in a nerve-wracking final, to win their maiden IPL final, here Sunday night. Chasing a stiff target of 191, little known Manvinder Bisla played the most defining innings of his life smashing the CSK bowlers to all corners to notch up 89 off only 48 balls (8x4, 5x6) ably supported by Jacques Kallis (69, 49 balls, 7x4, 1x6) as the most popular franchise of the cash-rich league finally lived upto its reputation. The moment Manoj Tiwary hit Dwayne Bravo to the square leg boundary for the second successive boundary, the delirious KKR players were all into the ground as their principal owner and Indian cine star Shah Rukh Khan was engaged in a frenzied celebration. The day however belonged to Bisla who would not even have played this match had bowler Laxmipathy Balaji not suffered hamstring injury. Balaji was replaced by Brett Lee of Australia and, given the limitation of only four foreign players in any given match, Brendon McCullum of New Zealand had to be dropped making way for Bisla who emerged as an unlikely hero among the galaxy of stars. Despite losing Gautam Gambhir early, Bisla played a blinder as he took on the CSK attack by the scruff of their neck. Four boundaries of an Albie Morkel over set the tone and couple of clean sixes of Ravichandran Ashwin meant that the Knights were certainly there in the match. The best part was that Bisla-Kallis duo saw Ben Hilfenhaus' first spell without taking any risks and then launched into the other bowlers. As Bisla started spanking the CSK bowlers, Mahendra Singh Dhoni suddenly started worrying. Indian Premier League is a 20-20 limited over league cricket tournament played among teams named after mostly major Indian cities and played during April-May. In its fifth edition this year, nine teams played each other in two rounds with the top four team qualifying for the semi-finals. Chennai Super Kings of Chennai have won the title twice, Rajasthan Royals of Jaipur once and Deccan Chargers of Hyderabad once so far. Brief Scores: Chennai Super Kings innings: MEK Hussey 54, M Vijay 42, SK Raina 73 Total: 190 for 3 in 20 Overs Kolkata Knight Riders innings (target: 191 runs): M Bisla 89, J Kallis 69 Total (For 5 wickets; 19.4 overs) 192. PTI Caption for pic: Kolkata Knight Riders captain Gautam Gambhir receiving the IPL trophy after winning the final of the fifth edition of the tournament against Chennai Super Kings in Chennai on Sunday. PTI Photo