It was a surprise to see the Chennai Super Kings bat first yesterday in their game against the Kolkata Knight Riders. There was rain overnight, there was rain before the game and the least you could do is to win the toss and bat second.

What that also allows is for the side to be aware of what exactly is the target instead of having to grope for it and hope that it does not rain.

What added to the Chennai woes was that the pitch was so slow and low that they could not even bat the opposition out of the game. Instead, they scored only 15 runs in the first six overs and by the time the 20 overs were up, they were restricted to only 114.

Of course, credit must be given to the manner in which the Kolkata Knight Riders bowled. Brett Lee had been hit for more than 20 runs in the last over of the previous game which changed the tide in favour of the opponents. He came back strongly with a spell of four overs for eight runs. Should have been the man of the match.