World Of Sports

Matthew Hayden bludgeoned an unbeaten 70 to take the Chennai Super Kings to a nine-wicket success over the Kolkata Knight Riders on Saturday.

Hayden shared an unbroken second-wicket stand of 86 with Mahendra Singh Dhoni to allow the Super Kings to chase down a target of 148 with three overs to spare.

The Queenslander's innings came from just 49 balls and featured six fours and three sixes, while skipper Dhoni's contribution of 43 required just 27 balls.

Parthiv Patel was the only casualty during the run chase, caught from a top-edged pull at Agit Agarkar's (1-19) medium pace during ninth over.

Awesome Oram

The Knight Riders struggled to a total of 147-9 after captain Sourav Ganguly opted to bat first at the MA Chidambaram Stadium.

The innings got off to a woeful start when Brendon McCullum and Ricky Ponting fell to Jacob Oram's bowling inside three overs.

McCullum (24) was caught by Suresh Raina in the covers, while the same duo combined again just a ball later to dismiss Ponting for a golden duck.

David Hussey (0), Prasanta Saha (24) and Ganguly (12) also failed make the substantial contribution the situation required, leaving the visitors in trouble at 70-5 just before the mid-point of the innings.

Laxmi Shukla averted complete humiliation with a workmanlike 42 from 33 balls before he was run out in the final over.

Oram finished as the pick of the home attack with 3-32 and there were two-wicket hauls for Manpreet Gony and Palani Amarnath.

The result maintains the Super Kings' 100 percent record from three games and puts them top of the IPL standings.