Top three nail-biters between Chennai and Kolkata in Indian T20 League history

Chennai and Kolkata will lock horns in the opening clash of the Indian T20 League 2022. Both teams played the final last year with the former coming up trumps and becoming the champions for the fourth time. Talking about the rivalry between the two teams, the Yellow brigade has had an upper hand on the purple army. Both teams have faced each other 26 times, with the four-time winners winning 17 times.

Talking about the top performers with the bat among the two sides, Suresh Raina (610) has scored the most runs against Kolkata. MS Dhoni (442) and Faf du Plessis (423) are second and third on the list. Notably, Raina won't play the league this year and Plessis has been signed by Bangalore. In this listicle, we will discuss the three best games between Chennai and Kolkata.

Three close games between Chennai and Kolkata

1.Opening game of the 2011 season

There are a few similarities between the 2011 and the upcoming season of the Indian T20 League. First, just like 2011, the upcoming season will see 10 teams fighting for the ITL trophy. The second one is the opening game between Chennai and Kolkata. 

In the opening game of the fourth season, the then defending champions Chennai won the toss and decided to bat first. They amassed 153/4, thanks to Srikkanth Anirudha (64), Suresh Raina (33), skipper MS Dhoni (29), and Albie Morkel (15*). 

In reply, Kolkata was restricted to 151/7, thus losing the game by two runs. The Gautam Gambhir-led side looked like winning the game when they scored 17 runs in the penultimate over of the game. At this stage, they needed 26 runs in two overs, with Suraj Randiv bowling the penultimate over. However, Tim Southee defended nine runs in the final over.

2. Final of the 2012 edition 

The final of the fifth season is one of the epic games in ITL history. The two-time winners and defending champions Chennai and first-time finalists Kolkata faced each other. The Yellow brigade won the toss and elected to bat first. They scored 190/3, thanks to Michael Hussey (54), Murali Vijay (42), and Suresh Raina (73). For Kolkata, the likes of Shakib Al Hasan, Jacques Kallis, and Rajat Bhatia took one wicket each. 

In reply, the Men in Purple and Gold chased down the target with two balls and five wickets to spare. The contributors to this win were Manvinder Bisla (89) and Jacques Kallis (69). This win also meant that the team won their first-ever title in the history of the ITL.

3. 15th game of the 2021 season

This was one of the most memorable games. The Eoin Morgan-led Kolkata side won the toss and elected to field first. Their bowlers were brutally hammered by the likes of Ruturaj Gaikwad (64), Faf du Plessis (95*), and Moeen Ali (25). The MS Dhoni-led team accumulated 220/3. In reply, the opposition lost five wickets for 31 runs. However, they still managed to score 202, losing the game by 18 runs. The contributions from Dinesh Karthik (40), Andre Russell (54), and Pat Cummins (66) kept the game alive even after the precarious situation their side was in.