IPL 2013 has been defined by low-scoring thrillers. In another one of those seemingly countless number of matches, Chennai Super Kings celebrated a hard-fought four-wicket victory over the Kolkata Knight Riders in a packed Eden Gardens.
In a match that was dominated by the bowlers and fielders, CSK restricted KKR to 119 for nine, before inching their way to the 120-run target.
Michael Hussey (40) anchored the innings really well -- even if he might have got out towards the end -- before Ravindra Jadeja (36) took over in the final overs to give his side an impressive win with five balls remaining.
CSK now have four wins in six matches, while the defending champions KKR suffered their fourth loss in six.
If KKR were going to defend the low total, it was all up to how well the spin twins - Sunil Narine and Suchitra Senanayake would bowl. While both of them bowled well, it was not quite brilliant enough to win them the game.
CSK sprung a surprise by sending in R Ashwin to open the innings in the company of Michael Hussey. However, the move did not quite come off, even if Ashwin (11, 13b, 2x4) played a couple of nice boundaries.
After a steady start, the off-spinner was dismissed by Sunil Narine, with Senanayke comfortable completing the catch at short midwicket.
Murali Vijay (2) looked all at sea to the spinners, and it was just a matter of time before the CSK batsman got out. He was a little lucky to survive a close lbw appeal from Narine, but off the very next over, Senanayake (one for 18) was celebrating his first wicket, after trapping Vijay in front of the wicket.
MS Dhoni came in, and with two of the coolest heads in world cricket at the crease, it looked like CSK were going to ease their way towards the latter part of the innings, before the big-hitters - Dhoni and Hussey included - could take charge.
However, just like in the KKR batting innings, some brilliant fielding led to Dhoni's demise, with Eoin Morgan affecting a perfect direct hit to send the CSK skipper packing for nine.
Suresh Raina, having a forgettable IPL 2013, played an ill-advised shot to long-on, with Narine taking the catch off Yusuf Pathan's bowling.
Subramaniam Badrinath came in and got a little stuck as CSK failed to find the boundaries, with the run rate climbing from six to seven to eight to and then nine.
Jacques Kallis left CSK needing 49 from 27 balls with five wickets in hand, after ending Badrinath's attritional 13-ball stay.
Ravindra Jadeja - or as he is known on Twitter Sir Ravindra Jadeja - came in as both players looked to crank it up a gear.
Hussey first smashed a six off Kallis, before Jadeja followed suit with a nice maximum in the next over from L Balaji.
However, Balaji had the last laugh in that over, as Hussey, looking for a boundary towards deep square leg, holed out to Pathan - the Aussie batsman walking back after a well-played 40 (51b, 2x4, 1x6).
CSK now needed 27 runs from three overs, and Jadeja continued to impress, pounding Narine (one for 20) for a six as the away side took ten runs of the West Indian's last over.
The first ball of the penultimate over from Kallis was guided for a boundary by Jadeja, before a half-chance was spilled by Pathan, leading to the left-hander picking up another four.
CSK now needed just nine from ten and Jadeja (36, 14b, 3x4, 3x6), along with Dwayne Bravo, calmly overhauled the target to pick up their fourth win in six.
Earlier, it was bowling and fielding of the highest order from CSK, as the KKR batsmen pressed the self-destruct button for the second straight match.
Gautam Gambhir and Pathan, opening the batting after Manvinder Bisla was dropped, gave the home side a good start, with Gambhir in particular looking really good at the crease.
With Gambhir in the mood, KKR raced to 44 for no loss from just five overs, before it all went pear-shaped following the wicket of the skipper in the sixth over.
A slash off a wide Chris Morris delivery from Gambhir (25m 19b, 5x4) flew to third man, with Hussey diving forward to take a quite splendid catch.
The first ball of the next over saw Kallis walking back to the pavilion, without even facing a ball, as Badrinath produced a brilliant direct hit to dismiss the key batsman.
It was just a procession of wickets after that really as Morgan and Pathan followed suit in Bravo's first over -- the former mishitting a lofted drive to Jadeja with the latter dismissed courtesy some brilliant fielding from Bravo and some equally poor running from KKR.
The home side were staring down the barrel now at 55 for four, with Manoj Tiwary and Debabrata Das looking to repair the damage.
Tiwary, though, has been a shadow of the exciting player seen in the IPL in previous seasons, and after scratching around for 18 balls for his 13, he holed out at deep midwicket to Mohit Sharma, with R Ashwin (two for 21) picking up his second wicket, just an over after he had sent Das (19, 15b, 2x6) packing.
It was now Jadeja's turn to get in on the act as the left-armer scalped the wickets of Rajat Bhatia and Laxmi Ratan Shukla in the space of three balls to send KKR teetering on 91 for eight.
Narine (13, 6b, 2x6) threw his bat around for a couple of overs, hitting two sixes, before holing out in the deep off the bowling of Jadeja (three for 20) as KKR stumbled to 119 for nine in their 20 overs.
