Saha takes Chennai to top of the table

The MA Chidambaram Stadium continued to be a fortress that couldn't be breached, as Chennai sealed a seventh straight win at home to end Kochi Tuskers Kerala's maiden IPL campaign on a disappointing note. The win for the hosts was the only constant on an otherwise unusual day in Chennai. To begin with, it was not oppressively hot on a summer's day; the pitch played slow and low and Kochi bowled with discipline to limit a power-packed batting line-up to a gettable total. The home side found an unlikely hero in Wriddhiman Saha, who seized on a promotion and an early let-off to play a decisive cameo.

In a contrast to his senior partner Michael Hussey, who was tied down by the steady fall of wickets and his own struggle to push on, Saha infused some urgency in the Chennai innings after surviving a missed stumping by Parthiv. In a clear sign of intent following the second time-out at the end of the 13th over - the scoring rate was fractionally over six at that stage - Saha swept Ravindra Jadeja for six over square leg. In addition to aggressive running between the wickets and an adeptness in rotating the strike, Saha, picked for the Indian tour of West Indies, also indulged in some powerplay. He charged out to Muralitharan to loft him out of the ground and pulled RP into the stands behind deep midwicket to end the Chennai innings on a high.

Kochi did manage a belated surge in their chase with Jadeja and Brad Hodge trying to salvage what they could out of an impending defeat, reducing the margin of the loss to 12 runs - incidentally, the difference in Parthiv's expected target at the toss.