Chennai Super Kings as a team may not have fired this season, but if consistency had a name it would answer to the name Noor Ahmad.
The Afghan left arm spinner is in rollicking form this IPL and on a turning track at the Eden Gardens, he proved to be more than a handful against the Kolkata Knight Riders.
On Wednesday, the 22-year-old Afghan cricketer was the pick of the bowlers for CSK with a four wicket haul and bagged the Player of the Match Award for helping restrict KKR to a below par 179 for 6.
Deciding to bat after winning the toss, KKR lost Rahmanullah Gurbaz in the 2nd over.
Purple Cap Holder
But KKR rebuilt the innings as Ajinkya Rahane and Sunil Narain counter-attacked with Khaleel Ahmed, Ravichandran Ashwin and Anshul Kamboj getting the stick as 50 runs were scored off four overs.
KKR had the momentum but Ahmad's introduction once the field restrictions were removed, saw CSK wrest back control.
He struck twice in the 7th over. He first gave the ball some flight, Narine came down and looking to swing his bat, missed it completely as the ball hit his pads and rolled towards Mahendra Singh Dhoni who picked up the ball and dislodged the stumps to have the opener out for 26.
Four balls later, Noor-Dhoni paired up again. Angkrish Raghuvanshi (1 off 2) done in by the googly, edged behind as he looked to play it down to third man and hand CSK a double blow in the over.
Throughout this season, Rahane has struggled post the Powerplay overs and that continued on Wednesday.
Big runs were hard to come by as Rahane and Manish Pandey could only deal in singles and twos as Ravindra Jadeja and Noor kept it tight. Noor mixed his lines and lengths as his next over produced just seven runs.
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Andre Russell came out to bat after Rahane's dismissal and after a quiet over he then launched into Jadeja and then Matheesha Pathirana, taking 29 runs in two overs.
Noor was called back to action in the 17th over and he completed the job he was brought on for. DreRus was beaten on the defence off the first two balls he faced in the over but got a lucky boundary next ball as Devon Conway overran the ball and was beaten by the turn.
He then slog swept the googly delivery over mid-wicket for a six! Russell needed to be there till the end to help KKR get to at least 200 but it was not to be.
Noor got his revenge off the last ball of the over as Russell hammered it flat to Dewald Brevis at long off.
Pandey and Rinku Singh then hammered a few lusty blows before Noor returned to get his 4th wicket.
Rinku pulled the short ball that flew up in the air and it was looking like it was going across the boundary but Ayush Mhatre did well to complete the catch at the second attempt while keeping his balance and staying inside the boundary line. Taking out Rinku at that juncture was a crucial dismissal.
Noor's four wickets came at crucial junctures. The first double strike forced KKR to rebuild which they did but could just not accelerate.
And when KKR were looking good at a 200-run mark with Russell going hammer and tongs, Noor sent him packing.
His final blow of dismissing Rinku blew off any hopes of KKR getting anywhere close to 200 let alone breaching it.
Noor used the conditions to his advantage, with the googly being his weapon of choice.
He overshadowed CSK'S experienced duo of Ashwin and Jadeja on the night and throughout this tournament.
He is now the joint holder of the Purple Cap along side Gujarat Titans' Prasidh Krishna with both bowlers on 20 wickets a piece.
Summing up his excellent show on the night, Noor kept it simple, saying, 'I did not keep thinking about the leading wicket-taker or the Purple Cap, wanted to do well for my team, that's how it works for me. The nick from Raghuvanshi is the one I liked. Just try to use the length well and that's what works for me.'
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